The Difference Between Delirium And Dementia Discussion

The Difference Between Delirium And Dementia Discussion

Delirium is a mental condition that results in confusion in thinking and leads an individual to have reduced awareness of the environment. Delirium prompts an individual to fail to think, remember and sleep or pay attention to a stimulus. The onset of delirium is often rapid. Delirium may happen within hours or a few days. Different types of delirium produce various symptoms. (Wilson et al., 2018) Symptoms range from anxiety, hallucinations, restlessness, inability to concentrate, disorientation, and a shift in emotions. Patients presenting delirium find problems with attention, memory and visual ability.

Delirium is classified into three types which include: hyperactive delirium, hypoactive and mixed delirium. Hyperactive delirium is characterized by patients presenting with agitation, aggressive and frequent hallucinations. Hypoactive delirium refers to reduced awareness of the environment, lethargy, neglecting things happening around, indifference and decreased muscle movements (Mattison, 2020)The Difference Between Delirium And Dementia Discussion. Hypoactive delirium can be misdiagnosed as depression. Mixed delirium exhibits the same presentation as hyperactive and hypoactive delirium. The clinical features expressed by mixed delirium include decreased muscle movement, agitation, visual hallucinations, aggressiveness and neglect of the activities happening within the environment. An excited delirium is a distinctive form of delirium that usually occurs when someone abuses drugs. Excited delirium is characterized by bizarre behaviour, paranoia, fear and aggression.

Delirium differs from dementia in various ways. The onset of fever is rapid in that it happens within hours or a few days. Dementia is a slow progressive decline of cognitive activity and develops over a long period. Delirium is typically characterized by inattention, while dementia does not. The activity level of a person with dementia is not affected until the later stages, while persons with delirium are overtly active or lethargic compared to usual functioning. The underlying cause of dementia is typically a medical condition such as Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia (Han, 2018)The Difference Between Delirium And Dementia Discussion. In contrast, the etiologic cause of delirium is triggered explicitly by a particular illness such as drugs, alcohol, urinary tract infection and illicit drug.

References

Han, J. H., & Suyama, J. (2018). Delirium and dementia. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 34(3), 327-354.

Mattison, M. L. (2020). Delirium. Annals of internal medicine, 173(7), ITC49-ITC64