ptsd Pseudodementia

[clw4514]

anyone have this due to ptsd? i told my new dr here in virginia about my brain not working and short term memory being horrible and she sd that its ^ that word up there. not happy about it. im only 40. should not have dementia of any sort till im way older!

so, my questions are 1) if u have experienced this, does it get better on its own? 2) is there treatment for it? 3) how do u make it thru a day dealing with it when its really bad?

hope all is well as can be expected for everyone.....

thx in advance,

christy

[Notorious Kelly]

clw,

Sorry, but I had to Google:

Pseudodementia is a syndrome seen in older people in which they exhibit symptoms consistent with dementia but the cause is a pre-existing psychiatric illness rather than a degenerative one.^[1] The name is derived from the combining form of the Ancient Greek "ψευδής" (pseudēs, "false, lying"), prepended to "dementia".

Older people with predominant cognitive symptoms such as loss of memory, and vagueness, as well as prominent slowing of movement and reduced or slowed speech, were sometimes misdiagnosed as having dementia when further investigation showed they were suffering from a major depressive episode.^[2] This was an important distinction as the former was untreatable and progressive and the latter treatable with antidepressant therapy or electroconvulsive therapy or both.^[3]

So it sounds like it's treatable, but a psychiatrist would be the best to ask how.

Since a lot of us aren't going to get much better, I spend my time trying to enjoy hobbies, etc rather than focus on my ailments.

Of course, if this problem is causing significant life interference, then it would need to be dealt with.

I wish you well!

[clw4514]

yeah, ive both spoke to the dr about it and googled it myself. she sd we would talk about it at the next appt. but, i was wanting a first hand account of someone who has dealt with it. no big deal. i go back this wk i think.