Dementia is a term for the kinds of illnesses that deal with the loss of brain function as it relates to memory, ability to communicate, ability to judge, and ability to function in everyday society. Under this umbrella you will find such terms as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, to name but a few. Patients who are affected by these diseases come from all walks of life, and for this reason it is quite frequently possible that a patient finds the diagnosis intolerable.

For those who have just been diagnosed as well as for those who are living with the illness, depression is a very common additional condition that will befall them. After all, an active patient will have a hard time reconciling her or himself to a lifestyle that involves giving control of finances and basic living decisions over to loved ones. Similarly, since these diseases are incurable, she or he will often have to battle with the finality of the diagnosis. Caregivers may sometimes have a hard time determining if depression has snuck up on their loved ones, but as a general rule of thumb, a prolonged exhibition of some of the symptoms of depression is a good indicator that something is amiss:

Your loved one may suffer from the doldrums for extended periods of time where nothing and nobody will be able to cheer her or him up.

She or he may voice to you concerns of becoming a burden, being worthless, or feeling extremely guilty for “doing this”, meaning getting sick, to you and the family.

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