Cognitive Loss

Knowing is not something that most of us routinely think about. We just are and we just know. We don’t wonder how we know where we are or when we are living, we just do. As age takes its toll, many people cease to be able to take knowing for granted. Orientation, memory and focus all become a little hazier. Upper level mental processes may even become impossible to perform. Causes for loss of cognition are difficult to diagnose. Treatments are sometimes effective, but are at other times useless or only marginally effective. There are three main categories of cognitive loss to be aware of when old age approaches.

Delirium
Delirium is a frustrating problem that causes the person suffering to lose some awareness of the world around him. Orientation is the most likely piece of knowledge to lose. Locations, seasons and people all start to seem unfamiliar. Other brain functions may also suffer. Hallucinations, memory loss and language difficulties may accompany the loss of awareness. Delirium can be a very brief illness or it can lead to Dementia or Amnestic Disorder.

Causes of Delirium
Delirium may be caused by medical illnesses such as strokes, tumors or head trauma. It may also be caused by substance abuse. Suddenly stopping the use of a powerful drug, rather than slowly dropping doses, may cause delirium.

Dementia
Dementia is a more severe disorder than Delirium. The person will always have severe memory loss. It may start with only bits of memory lost, but eventually, the person will have no memories at all. It is also common for those who are suffering from Dementia to lose language abilities. Both spoken and written language may become incoherent or at least without meaning. Dementia can also affect the coordination of sensory and motor activity. Higher level thinking will also be affected by Dementia. Problem solving skills and the ability to exercise judgment will fade. Agitation is common in patients with Dementia. There are all kinds of factors that may contribute to the feelings of aggression, but it is understandable that loss of control would make a person feel irritable.

Causes of Dementia
Dementia most often results from impairing diseases. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease can lead to Dementia. AIDS frequently causes Dementia in those who carry the disease. Dementia may also be caused by other medical conditions. Strokes, for example, can severely affect brain functioning. Some medical problems that can cause Dementia can be treated and the symptoms can therefore be reversed. Vitamin deficiencies, blows to the head and hormonal imbalances will not necessarily lead to irreversible Dementia. Alcohol abuse will not necessarily lead to Dementia either, but it is one of the leading causes.

Amnestic Disorder
Amnestic Disorder is not as encompassing as Dementia. It is a disorder that solely affects memory. All other cognitive functions remain intact. Orientation is also free from the blurriness of Delirium. Sometimes only a block of memory disappears. Other patients, starting at the onset of the disease, are unable to write any new memories and so continually have an increasing block of time with no associated memories.

Causes of Amnestic Disorder
There are very few factors that only affect memory functions in the brain. Head injuries, Thiamin Deficiencies and sedatives can all cause memory loss.

Frances, Allen MD and First, Michael B. MD. Your Mental Health: A Layman’s Guide to
the Psychiatrist’s Bible. New York: Scribner, 1998.

• A Psychiatrist And Mental Illness
• A Step Toward Substance Abuse Can Lead To A Deep Hole Of Addiction
• A World Full Of Phobias
• All Children Are Different, But What Differences Are Normal? (information About Mental Retardation)
• Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Avoidant Personality Disorder
• Being Anxious Over Everything And Nothing
• Being Well Adjusted To Life May Involve Some Struggles
• Bipolar Disorders Are Difficult To Diagnose
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Cognitive Loss
• Common Illnesses That Psychiatrist Treat
• Coping With Physical Illness
• Defining The Science Of Psychiatry
• Dependent Personality Disorder
• Depressed Spirits And Major Depressive Disorder
• Fear And The Physical
• Fearing Fear Itself
• First Psychiatric Medications And Treatments
• Food And Thoughts: Does One Control The Other?
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Gratifying Impulses
• Has Psychiatry Gone Too Far? Has It Gone Far Enough?
• Histrionic Personality Disorder
• How Psychiatry Methods Evolved Over Time From Force To Healing
• Important Facts Regarding Psychiatry And Mental Illness
• Money Matters In Psychiatry
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive Personality Disorder
• Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Playing The School Game When It’s Hard
• Preparing A Life For Autism
• Psychiatric Malpractice And Standard Of Care
• Psychiatric Organizations And Their Contributions
• The Onset Of Dementia
• The Psychological Interacting With The Physical
• The Top Schools In Psychiatry
• The Truth About Obsessions And Compulsions
• Top Ten Misconceptions About Psychiatric Disorders
• Treatable Depression
• Treating Bipolar Disorder
• What Is Cognition?
• What Is Psychiatry?
• When Acting Out Is Serious
• When Personality Isn’t Personal
• When Reality Isn’t Real
• When Sleep Goes Wrong
• Who Is “i”?
• Who Was Freud?
• Psychiatric Treatments And Support
• Psychoanalysis And The Need For More Scientific Psychiatry
• Reason Behind The Madness
• Schizoid And Schizotypal Personality Disorders
• Self-diagnosis And Treatment Of Psychiatric Conditions
• The Aftermath Of Trauma
• The Beauty Of Sleeping
• The Beginnings Of Psychiatry
• The Controversy In The Classroom: Adhd Diagnosis
• The Importance Of Recognizing Psychiatric Issues
• The Majors And ‘minors’ Of Depression
• The Need For Psychiatrists In The Military