Alzheimer's and Denial, The Alzheimer's Library

One of the hardest things for caregivers or loved ones to understand is that many Alzheimer's patients really and truly do not realize they have a problem. It isn't denial, it's a malfunction of the mind due to damage being done to a particular part of the brain. The symptom is called "anosognosia". Anosognosia doesn't just mean that the AD patients don't realize their abilities are declining -- which can make it very difficult to get them to a doctor to be diagnosed -- it also means that they don't realize that anything needs to be done to regain better functioning. We expect them to want to take medicines ... they don't see any reason to. We expect them to want to remember appointments and chores ... they think they're remembering just fine and don't need lists and calendars.