What Are Things That Can Cause the APPEARANCE of mental decline in older people?

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   WordCrafter09posted 7 years ago

   What Are Things That Can Cause the APPEARANCE of mental decline in older people?
   
   Even people who are young can come across as absent-minded, distracted, forgetful when they're under stress, living with distress/discomfort, or feeling pressured or misunderstood by even well meaning others.  They may not say anything because they know someone means well.  OR, they may live with it so often that they then become irritable.  If they're the parent of grown kids someone who isn't a parent, or one of grown kids may not even realize what the concerns/issues are once kids are grown. AND, how might being misunderstood make things worse?

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   Johnny James Aposted 7 years ago

   Vitamin Deficiency can cause the appearance of permanent mental decline.  Also, how people were raised.  If someone was always used to other people remembering things for them or picking up after their mistakes then they may make less effort to remember tasks or regular events. Some people are just not as focused as others and we notice it more when they are adults because we expect more of them. Lastly, sometime people appear in mental decline due to a lack of organization in conjunction with additional responsibilities. In today's world we are so interconnected via smart phone, laptop, etc that we expect people to be able to be more productive and more organized using today's technology, however, some people are not good at it.  I do not even try to schedule too many things with certain family members, because I know they could never handle more than a certain amount of tasks, and if they try and use a Smartphone to calendar events they will end up mixing more things up.

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      WordCrafter09posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for a thoughtful, solid, reply 

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   threekeysposted 7 years ago

   I think James gave a fair response.
   From how our Media presents your country to us too many "administrators & Co" are invested in making your population wrong and sick.
   The medical professionals and allied health people want to line their pockets with more $$ by gene blaming and inventing unecessary early diagnostic tests INMHO.
   Instead fix societal structures and moderate capitalism so that we work to live and not live to work.

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   Cissy1946posted 7 years ago

   Not knowing exactly what you mean by 'older people' I'm hesitant to make a comment. However, hesitation is just a pause so here goes.
   When you're older the things you did when you were young that no one noticed or thought were funny now become 'cause for concern'. I've always talked to myself, especially in the grocery store. These days I notice the sideways glances of people who hear me and I know they're wondering if I'm crazy. I've always walked into things but now people think I can't see where I'm going or I've lost my balance. I walked into a telephone pole once when I was 24 and people laughed, if I did that now they'd think something was wrong and want to call 911. I forget things, usually why I've walked from one room to the other but then I'll remember something else I wanted to do in the room so who's to say that wasn't why I walked into the room in the first place.
   Not everyone experiences mental decline. I've met people who were almost 100 years old who were still as sharp as the proverbial tack. However, I have a theory about mental decline in older adults. They just get tired of thinking. They don't seem to be able to learn new things because they're just not interested. For a young person this probably doesn't make sense but if you think about it, it will.
   Let's use me as an example. I'm 70, almost. I was born in 1946. There was no television. So when I was a kid, television was something new that I had to learn about and there was that ever present antenna. Then came color television, you actually had to adjust the color, but there was still that antenna. Then came cable or antenna. Most people stayed with the antenna because cable cost money and who in their right mind would pay for television. Then came only cable. Meanwhile our telephones went to crap because AT&T split up. Then computers came into the home. Then cell phones. Now streaming that, with any luck, will kill cable TV. The problem is that every time something new happened, we had to relearn everything we had already learned. And it's no where near over. When the people who are now 'older' were young the way things worked was you got your degree, you got a job, you worked, and you retired. There was none of this relearning every year because the entire world changed.
   So people just get tired of having to relearn all the time and to a young person that appears to be mental decline.

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      threekeysposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      That was a really interesting tack cissy
      I too know of a 101 year old woman. She plays the card game Bridge! and does relatively well. I still can't believe it. My 94yr old relative still caretakes the village church/cemetry-all good!

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      WordCrafter09posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I guess, by "older", I mean from "hovering around the line between " late . middle-age" and "out-and-out senior'  Imagining a 100-plus life it could mean the last 45 or so years of life.  Thank you for your thoughtful reply. 

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   tamarawilhiteposted 7 years ago

   Blood sugar problems causing mental decline and fatigue
   Thyroid extremes (high or low) can mimic mental illness, though problems regulating body temperature and weight changes that go with it sometimes get mistaken for hot flashes and mid-life crisis in women

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   RTalloniposted 7 years ago

   This is already a great discussion on an important topic. Hope to see it highlighted many times over with more discussion. 
   
   One of the worst things a society can do to itself is "commit" age-segregation, yet here we are seeing it on a very large scale. It inhibits growing together as a society, it creates misunderstandings, and it causes useless suffering from the youngest to the oldest.  Oh, but, hey, there are careers to attend to, social lives to maintain, and we know how high technology is on people's agendas!
   
   One of the best elderly stories goes something like the the following. An impatient waitress was trying to take an elderly couple's order. The lady did not want an egg, but the diner's menu didn't have a breakfast item that did not include eggs. She asked if they could just leave it off of one of the choices. The irritated waitress said no to all the lady's requests about leaving the egg off and demanded to know how she would like it served. The lady thought for a moment and said, "Boiled please."  When it arrived, she wrapped it in a napkin and put it in her purse.  Never underestimate the elderly.

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