4. Confusion About Time or Place
Another potential warning sign is increasing confusion about dates, seasons, locations, or familiar surroundings.
A person may lose track of what day it is or become uncertain about an appointment time. Occasionally forgetting the date is normal, but persistent disorientation can be more concerning.
Some people may also become confused about where they are or how they arrived there.
Getting temporarily turned around in an unfamiliar building is not unusual. Becoming repeatedly confused in a familiar neighborhood or having difficulty finding a place that has been visited many times is different.
In more significant cases, a person may become unsure about the time of day or confuse events that happened recently with events from much further in the past.
These symptoms should be taken seriously, particularly if they are new, recurring, or progressively worsening.
Sudden confusion, however, can have causes other than dementia and may sometimes represent an urgent medical problem. A rapid change in mental status should receive prompt medical attention.
5. Trouble Finding the Right Words
Changes in language can also occur when cognitive abilities are affected.
A person may increasingly struggle to find familiar words during ordinary conversations. They might pause frequently, substitute vague descriptions such as "that thing," or lose track of what they were trying to say.
Occasionally forgetting a word is completely normal. Almost everyone experiences moments when a familiar name or expression seems temporarily out of reach.
The concern is when these difficulties become frequent enough to interfere with communication.
Someone may begin avoiding conversations because finding words has become frustrating. They may repeatedly lose the thread of a discussion or have difficulty understanding information that they previously handled comfortably.