You might be surprised to learn that some people are actually not aware that they have Alzheimer’s.
People with Alzheimer’s, dementia, brain tumor, stroke, and other types of damage in the brain are cognitively impaired and because of that, might not believe anything is wrong with them.
Sometimes, this is caused by a condition called anosognosia. The meaning of anosognosia is “to not know a disease” and isn’t the same as being in denial.
Anosognosia causes someone to not be aware of their health condition. It’s common in some cognitive conditions, including Alzheimer’s.
So, if someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s also has anosognosia, they won’t know or believe that they have it
Anosognosia and denial aren’t the same thing
When someone is in denial, they’re aware of a fact, but refuse to accept it.
But with anosognosia, someone with Alzheimer’s isn’t in denial. They’re not even aware that they’re cognitively impaired.
Not being aware of their cognitive impairment can show up in someone’s understanding of their own memory, general thinking skills, emotions, or physical abilities.
For example, they might have trouble with language, like not being able to find the words for common objects or simple tasks.
However, they might try to explain these situations by saying they just forget or that they’re tired.
They might even get angry or defensive if you remind them about their cognitive impairment because they’re absolutely convinced that there’s no problem.
Original source can be found here.
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