Source: # What is true: dementia is…? *From the book – Chapter 31: Later-Life and Dementia-Related Care* ## The right answer Progressive decline in memory and thinking severe enough to affect daily life ## Dementia Dementia is a syndrome of progressive decline in memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning, language, and judgement, severe enough to affect daily life. - Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause. - Other causes: vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, mixed types. - Depression can mimic dementia (“pseudo-dementia”); proper assessment matters. Many dementias are not fully reversible. Early diagnosis, medical management, cognitive stimulation, caregiver support, and safety planning can still improve quality of life. [Read the full chapter – Chapter 31: Later-Life and Dementia-Related Care](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/chapter/31/) ## Stories from real life - [Just Getting Old, Said the Family](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/just-getting-old-said-the-family-129/) – Mr Hargreaves, seventy-two, had been a head teacher in Manchester. Since retiring two years ago and losing his wife last winter, he had stopped going to… - [Where Did I Put the Keys, Again?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/where-did-i-put-the-keys-again-130/) – Mrs Lakshmi, seventy-eight, lived with her son Arvind and his wife in Chennai. For the last year she had been repeating questions, leaving the gas on… - [The Carer Who Forgot Herself](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-carer-who-forgot-herself-131/) – Grace, fifty-eight, had cared for her husband Tom in Cork since his dementia diagnosis three years earlier. He no longer knew the day, woke at night,… - [The Empty Flat on Raja Street](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/story/the-empty-flat-on-raja-street-132/) – Mr Fernandes, seventy, lived alone in Mumbai since his wife died and his children moved abroad. He ate lunch at a different tiffin place each day… More on this topic: [Ageing well, memory loss and dementia – caring for elders](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/topic/later-life/) ## More questions - [What is true: depression can…?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/what-is-true-depression-can/) - [What is true: ramesh’s family learned…?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/what-is-true-ramesh-s-family-learned/) - [What is true: caregivers need…?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/what-is-true-caregivers-need/) - [Just Getting Old, Said the Family – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-just-getting-old-said-the-family/) - [Where Did I Put the Keys, Again? – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-where-did-i-put-the-keys-again/) - [The Carer Who Forgot Herself – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-the-carer-who-forgot-herself/) - [The Empty Flat on Raja Street – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-the-empty-flat-on-raja-street/) - [When Dad Became Another Person – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-when-dad-became-another-person/) - [What can we learn from the story “Ramesh”?](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/story-ramesh/) - [Understanding the load of later life](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/answers/understanding-the-load-of-later-life/) [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [Contact](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/contact/) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/) --- *Psychology for Everyone – A Mental Well Being Series* by Satish Zope · free to read · Contact: [myadvisorfriend@gmail.com](mailto:myadvisorfriend@gmail.com) · [About](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/about/) · [Privacy](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/privacy/) · [Disclaimer](https://psychologyforeveryone.com/disclaimer/)