Many people who are living with dementia were initially misdiagnosed. Commonly, they are treated in the first instance with antidepressants and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in the miskaken belief that their core problems are anxiety and depression - this is what happened to me. The problem was, I passed every memory test with flying colours (I still do). My advice to anyone who believes that they may be experiencing some degree of dementia would be:
Inform your General Practitioner (GP) of your suspicions
If you are not happy with your GP's response, ask to see a Neurologist
Don't give up.
We are all absent-minded from time to time. We all forget names, where we put our keys and what we went shopping for; that doesn't mean that we all have dementia. There may be another perfectly reasonable reason for your belief. Nevertheless, be brave and fight your corner until you get to the bottom of your problem.
The Alzheimer's Society can help you. Just phone 0333 150 3456 or go along to their website at https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ You can read and download many useful publications and factsheets that will help you.
