Friday, February 15, 2008

I think I am losing my mind . . . .


I know the mind deteriorates with age -- but, I am not that old --

But, every day something happens that leads me to believe I am losing my mind. I forget meetings, I can't remember from one hour to the next (even from one minute to the next) what I am doing or suppose to be doing. I can't seem to get a handle on things and it's kind of scary. I have always had a very good memory -- names, dates, places, events, and so on.

Is it dementia? Not sure -- I couldn't remember how to spell it to find the information below. You be the judge ---

Dementia (from Latin de- "apart, away" + mens (genitive mentis) "mind") is the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood. This age cutoff is by definition, as similar sets of symptoms due to organic brain dysfunction are given different names, such as developmental disorders, in populations younger than adulthood.

In dementia, affected areas in cognition may be memory, attention, language, and problem solving. Especially in the later stages of the condition, affected persons may be disoriented in time (not knowing what day of the week, day of the month, month, or even what year it is), in place (not knowing where they are), and in person (not knowing who they are).

Maybe I am not quite there -- I do know who I am and I know where I am . . . at least for today!

2 comments:

LeeAnn said...

I work with a lot of very young people and I am aways so glad when I see them trying to remember something they were just to do. Instead od dementia I believe it's over-load. So hang in there.

Anonymous said...

sorry you are going nuts mom. It's okay. I think I'm right behind you.