🧠 Dementia Stages Chart
An informative tool to understand dementia progression and its manifestations in daily life
🧠 Cognitive Symptoms
- Occasional forgetfulness of names, appointments, or object locations
- Difficulty remembering recently read information
- Mild concentration problems
- Occasional spatial disorientation
- Difficulty remembering recent events
😟 Emotional Symptoms
- Mild to moderate anxiety
- Denial of problems as a defense mechanism
- Frustration due to forgetfulness
- Subtle mood changes
🚶 Functional Symptoms
- Decreased work performance
- Difficulty with complex work tasks
- Problems traveling to unfamiliar places
- Maintains independence in basic activities
🧠 Cognitive Symptoms
- Forgets important facts of daily life
- Marked difficulty concentrating
- Frequent disorientation in time and place
- Problems remembering personal history
- Difficulty with simple mathematical operations
- Begins to forget names of close family members
😔 Emotional and Behavioral Symptoms
- Marked personality changes
- Emotional lability (rapid mood changes)
- Anxiety and agitation
- Possible occasional aggressiveness
- Sleep disturbances
- Obsessive symptoms or delusions
🏠 Functional Symptoms
- Needs help choosing appropriate clothing
- Requires assistance with some basic activities
- Difficulty managing finances
- Problems planning meals or trips
- Possible occasional incontinence
- Maintains recognition of close family members
🧠 Cognitive Symptoms
- Severe memory loss
- Does not recognize close family members
- Complete disorientation in time and space
- Progressive loss of language
- Difficulty processing basic information
🗣️ Communication Symptoms
- Very limited vocabulary (few words)
- Communication reduced to sounds or gestures
- Total loss of verbal capacities
- Difficulty understanding simple instructions
🚶 Physical and Functional Symptoms
- Urinary and fecal incontinence
- Loss of psychomotor functions
- Needs help walking
- Requires assistance to sit and stand
- Difficulty maintaining head upright
- Loss of ability to smile
- Needs constant care for hygiene and feeding
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FAQ
You can often tell by observing changes in memory, behavior, language, and ability to perform daily tasks. Tools like our dementia stages chart help you compare symptoms across different stages for better understanding.
Most people need 24-hour care during the late stage of dementia. This is when they may lose the ability to walk, speak clearly, or manage basic needs like eating and using the bathroom. Safety risks are much higher, and constant supervision is usually necessary to ensure comfort and prevent complications.
When someone shows confusion, wandering, poor judgment, or increased risk of falls, it’s no longer safe to leave them alone. This usually occurs in middle to late stages.
Progression varies by person and dementia type. Some may stay in early stages for years, while others decline rapidly. Our timeline provides general guidance for caregivers.
It offers a visual overview of symptoms at each stage, helping caregivers plan care, communicate with doctors, and adjust expectations with clarity.
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