TL;DR: Recognizing the four common behaviors that people with dementia often exhibit can help families identify early warning signs and seek appropriate care. This guide explains key behavioral and cognitive changes that may signal dementia and why early intervention and professional support are important.

  • Memory loss such as repeated questions, forgotten appointments, and confusion about time or place
  • Communication difficulties including trouble following conversations, word substitution, or difficulty expressing thoughts
  • Mood and personality changes like sudden irritability, anxiety, aggression, apathy, or wandering behaviors
  • Struggles with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as dressing, bathing, eating, or managing basic routines
  • Early recognition matters, as identifying these behaviors can help families pursue medical evaluation and memory care support sooner

Understanding these symptoms can help caregivers better support loved ones and determine when professional dementia care may be needed.

Dementia is often referred to as a silent epidemic. Though the affliction can devastate one’s lifestyle and autonomy, the symptoms can be subtle, with many untrained caregivers never recognizing them until it’s too late.

There may be no known cure for dementia, but early identification, diagnosis, and intervention can make an enormous difference on a dementia patient’s physical and mental health. With this in mind, here we have assembled the four common behaviors that people with dementia often exhibit.

While this guide is not meant to be a means of diagnosing your loved one, we hope it will offer some guidance for how to identify and navigate potential dementia and personality changes. It’s also designed to be helpful as to whether a professional diagnosis and a subsequent move to a memory care setting may be warranted. Read on for key insights about your loved one’s potential symptoms.

The Four Common Symptoms of Dementia

Memory Loss

This is the big one and is most commonly seen in those suffering from dementia. Early onset dementia memory loss may present as:

  • Short-term memory lapses,
  • Word substitution,
  • Repeated questions,
  • And more.

Deeper memory loss issues can become more apparent, presenting as:

  • Confusion about time and place,
  • Forgotten appointments,
  • Forgotten names, key dates, anniversaries, etc.
  • And more.

If you see these dementia behavior changes as they relate to memory, you may be seeing dementia-triggered memory loss.

Communication Issues

As we mentioned above, word substitution is a common symptom for those suffering from dementia. However, other personality changes with dementia as they relate to communication can also present as:

  • Difficulty following conversations,
  • A sudden reluctance to join in on ongoing conversations,
  • Challenges with expressing their thoughts,

This symptom, known as aphasia, is one commonly found in more advanced stages of dementia. However, remember that even small lapses in communication in the elderly can be cause for concern if your loved one has never struggled with communication before.

Mood Shifts and Behavioral Changes

Unfortunately, dementia and mood changes are strange bedfellows. These symptoms can come suddenly, with no apparent trigger. However, it’s important as your loved one’s charge to help identify the potential triggers that may bring on these personality changes with dementia to help stymie them. This can be enormously helpful for those with dementia with behavioral disturbances.

Sudden irritability, onset anxiety, apathy, aggression, and other emotional swells are common in dementia patients. Similarly, as relating to the memory loss we mentioned above, aimless wandering is another common occurrence with regard to dementia and personality changes.

Increased Challenges with Activities of Daily Living

Though greater need of assistance with ADLs can be common broadly with seniors, those suffering from dementia often exhibit much deeper needs in ADL support. And the need goes well beyond complex tasks such as driving a car or managing one’s finances.

Needs can present themselves even in activities that have been done autonomously for years. They can include:

  • Incontinence care,
  • Dressing,
  • Eating,
  • Bathing,
  • And more.

If you witness an increased reliance on external support for even the most routine of daily tasks in your loved one, it’s possible they are exhibiting symptoms of dementia. Of course, only a medical professional is equipped to make a full, proper, and accurate diagnosis of this difficult and complex debilitation.

Give Your Loved One the Support They Deserve

If you are tasked with caring for your elderly loved one and recognize some of the symptoms of dementia with behavioral disturbance we’ve covered above, keep this in mind: the four Rs of dementia care can make all the difference.

Reassuring your loved one, reconsidering their needs and perspectives, redirecting their distress, and relaxing their nerves can make all the difference.

Of course, we also know some families are unequipped to offer a level of care befitting of their loved one’s unique needs.

For seniors suffering from dementia, the right residential setting can make all the difference in cases such as these. From skilled nursing interventions to physical space designed around the dementia-addled mind, memory care communities offer routine, comfort, and care in a setting that feels tailored to the unique needs of a dementia patient.

If you are searching for a memory care community here in Sun City, Arizona, the Gardens of Sun City offers the support your loved one deserves. From specialized memory care interventions, engagement opportunities, meaningful connections, and more, residents here find they can live intentionally while their family takes peace of mind knowing their loved one is safe and supported.

Discover state of the art support alongside amenities you are sure to love. Learn more about our memory care community here.