- Memory Loss That Disrupts Daily Life: Forgetting recently learned information, important dates, or events, and increasingly relying on notes, electronic devices, or family members for things previously handled independently.
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Challenges in Planning or Solving Problems: Difficulty developing and following a plan, working with numbers, tracking monthly bills, or following a familiar recipe.
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Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks: Struggling with everyday routines, such as driving to a familiar location, organizing a grocery list, or remembering the rules of a favorite game.
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Confusion With Time or Place: Losing track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time, or forgetting where one is and how they got there.
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Trouble Understanding Visual Images and Spatial Relationships: Vision issues affecting balance, reading, judging distances, or determining color and contrast (impacting driving safety).
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New Problems With Words in Speaking or Writing: Trouble following or joining conversations, stopping mid-stream with no idea how to continue, repeating oneself, or struggling with vocabulary (e.g., calling a watch a “hand-clock”).
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Misplacing Things and Losing the Ability to Retrace Steps: Putting items in unusual places (e.g., keys in the refrigerator), losing things, and being unable to retrace steps to find them, sometimes leading to accusations of theft.
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Decreased or Poor Judgment: Experiencing compromised decision-making, such as poor judgment with money (e.g., falling for scams) or a sudden decline in personal grooming and hygiene.
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Withdrawal From Work or Social Activities: Pulling away from hobbies, social projects, sports, or work gatherings because of challenges keeping up with the changes.
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Changes in Mood and Personality: Becoming easily confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful, anxious, or unusually irritable at home, at work, or out of one’s comfort zone.
