Difference Between Dementia and Psychosis

The human mind is fragile and in the same way that it is capable of great things, its functioning is also often hampered by the incidence of various factors. Difference Between Dementia and Psychosis

When the brain does not work as it should, then problems arise and people can develop dementia; But are we referring to psychosis by dementia? Well, no, and then we will clarify the difference between these two conditions.

DEMENTIA  Difference Between Dementia and Psychosis

Dementia involves a wide variety of brain diseases . It usually causes long-term loss of the ability to think and reason clearly. This loss can be so severe that it could affect the functioning of a person in their daily life.

 There are many different types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Dementia is usually progressive and slowly gets worse over time. When a person begins to show signs of this disease it is because it has affected their brain for a long time. 

It commonly has effects on memory, visual-spatial ability, language, attention, and executive function (problem solving). The people who have been diagnosed with dementia may also suffer impulsivity, depression, anxiety, agitation, balance problems, tremors, slurred speech and language, trouble eating or swallowing, delusions, hallucinations, restlessness.

PSYCHOSIS

It can be said that psychosis is actually a symptom of a wide variety of diseases, including dementia. Essentially refers to when the patient has “lost touch with reality.”

People who are diagnosed with psychosis can experience personality changes, hallucinations, confusion, problems with social interaction, problems to carry out daily activities. Some with advanced psychosis can even suffer panic attacks, delusions, vision and impaired understanding.

It can be caused by various pathologies, including but not limited to disorders such as schizophrenia, delusional disorders, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, tumor or cyst in the brain, neurological diseases, HIV and other infections, epilepsy, stroke, genetics , dementia.

Key differences between dementia and psychosis

• Dementia involves a large number of diseases that are characterized by causing people to lose the ability to think and reason properly, while psychosis in many cases could be one of the symptoms of dementia; which consists of a disconnection of the individual with reality.
• Dementia is a disease, while psychosis is a symptom of some diseases, which may include dementia.
• Examples of dementia: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy.
• Examples of psychosis: postpartum psychosis, monothematic delusions, myxedematous psychosis, cycloid psychosis.