These two have some similarities but vastly different. People can sometimes confuse dementia (forgetfulness) with anxiety (comes in various forms and can show some signs of dementia if anxious but not the same. Review what each is below and see your Physician if you feel you have forms of either.
Dementiarefers to a group of symptoms that together affect the memory, normal thinking, communicating and the reasoning ability of a person. These symptoms make it difficult to perform even daily simple tasks such as bathing and eating. Alzheimer’s disease is the main cause of majority cases of dementia. Dementia can’t be cured but there are medications to manage the symptoms.
Anxiety – Everyone feels anxious now and then. It’s a normal emotion. For example, you may feel nervous when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.
Anxiety disorders are different, though. They are a group of mental illnesses, and the distress they cause can keep you from carrying on with your life normally.
For people who have one, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming, and can be disabling. But with treatment, many people can manage those feelings and get back to a fulfilling life. See the FEATURE article on Anxiety on this site.
Types of Disorders
Anxiety disorder is an umbrella term that includes different conditions:
- Panic disorder. You feel terror that strikes at random. During a panic attack, you may also sweat, have chest pain, and feel palpitations (unusually strong or irregular heartbeats). Sometimes you may feel like you’re choking or having a heart attack.
- Social anxiety disorder. Also called social phobia, this is when you feel overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations. You fixate about others judging you or on being embarrassed or ridiculed.
- Specific phobias. You feel intense fear of a specific object or situation, such as heights or flying. The fear goes beyond what’s appropriate and may cause you to avoid ordinary situations.
- Generalized anxiety disorder. You feel excessive, unrealistic worry and tension with little or no reason.
