Occasional forgetfulness is a frequent phenomenon, which moreover increases with age; their intensification is a source of concern for many, since it can announce the first signs of dementia.
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To lose one’s memory is also to lose one’s subjectivity, one’s identity. For many, this is one of the most dreaded scenarios.
Certain punctual oversights, completely normal, can in fact become unduly worrying. Indeed, who has never had trouble remembering a well-known name, a detail that was once very well known.
Who still has never entered a room without remembering why he went there?
If we should not be alarmed wrongly by these occasional forgetfulness, which is generally not alarming, it is just as important not to ignore the first signs of dementia.
Fortunately, certain signs do not lie when it comes to knowing whether, concerning one’s own mental health or that of loved ones, these oversights are harmless, or on the contrary consequent.
Professor Hana Burianova recalls the importance of not systematically stigmatizing the elderly.
Indeed, much of the ‘forgetting’ typical of otherwise healthy older people could be due to them not being attentive in the first place, says the neuroscientist at Bournemouth University and advisor for the British brand of Healthspan dietary supplements.
“A person may forget conversations they just had, get lost in a place they know well, or forget the route home, despite having done so countless times before” , explains Dr. Burianova.
The difference, however, lies in the increased frequency of these oversights, points out the professor.
“Anyone can forget to turn off the stove, but in someone with Alzheimer’s disease, it happens again and again,” she explains.
Most of us know loved ones who have been telling the same stories for years.
However, unlike a loved one who tells the same story every time you visit them, a person with Alzheimer’s disease will repeat the same information over and over, often in a short period of time.
“A person with Alzheimer’s disease will repeat something three times in a row. It’s a symptom of her short-term memory loss,” says Dr. Burianova.
If your otherwise calm loved one suddenly becomes anxious or depressed, it could be more than a midlife crisis.
“Early signs of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which Bruce Willis suffers from, include personality changes. It’s very difficult, because people become depressed and anxious,” explains the professor.
Someone will try to figure out why their loved one is suffering from a mental disorder, but it’s more than that: it’s because a part of the brain is deteriorating.
If someone who was previously fluent suddenly starts to stumble over their words, you should ask yourself questions, says the professor.
“It can be aphasia, which is difficulty speaking and understanding language, which can be caused by FTD,” she explains.
Bruce Willis recently shed light on this form of dementia, revealing that it was his difficulty in speaking that allowed him to know he had this disease.
“You can be telling them something and find they don’t understand. Or they start to stutter or stumble when they try to produce language,” adds the specialist.
If a normally prudish and reserved loved one starts telling crude jokes, it could be a sign of dementia.
“Depending on the type of dementia you have, your personality may change once the prefrontal cortex starts to be affected,” explains the professor.
“There can be a lot of fear or OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), you can get particularly obsessive, and some people get disinhibited,” she adds.