Man diagnosed with early onset dementia aged 41 shares everything he's learned about the early stages
A man who suffering from early onset dementia has opened up about everything he's learned about the disease since being diagnosed at just 41.
Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of progressive disorders that affect the brain, with Alzheimer's disease the most common.
It usually affects older people and can tragically lead to a loss of independence as people struggle to complete daily tasks due to the decline in brain functionality, with symptoms including memory loss and problems with movement and mood.
However, in rare cases it can affect much younger people, with a woman from the UK sadly dying from the disease at just 31, while another opened up to LADbible about his experience with early onset dementia.
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Fraser, an Australian content creator, has been making videos about his journey with the devastating health condition and how he is navigating his new life.
Signs of early onset dementia
Alzheimer's Research UK explain that symptoms young people experience can be similar to the ones older people suffer from, but they are often harder to recognise as younger people also develop more unusual symptoms that aren't always associated with the disease.
The charity adds that symptoms 'will get worse over time and become more noticeable', with symptoms including:
- Memory problems that interfere with everyday life
- Confusion and disorientation
- Changes in personality and behaviour
- Language difficulties
- Problems with movement
- Visual problems
- Planning and problem solving issues
How did Fraser find out he had early onset dementia?
Fraser had been struggling a lot with stress before moving house and initially put his symptoms down to that.
Speaking on an earlier YouTube video, he said: "I sort of put everything down to being stressed initially and then I moved from suburbia down to the countryside. Lifestyle and everything got a lot better.
"After a while I noticed that my stress and anxiety had gone, the issues that I was experiencing with my memory were still present.
"It possibly felt like they had gotten a little worse. It was at that point I really started feeling like there was something going on here that wasn't stress."
But suddenly, it got the point where he was having serious memory issues, including a time he thought his daughter was missing for several hours, before she reminded him that she'd been at the cinema, something she'd told him about several times.
What he's learned about the disease, and himself, since
A recent emotional video sees Fraser write down some of the things he's noticed since he had his diagnosis, sharing 21 different things in the video:
- You will be certain you have it and certain you do not have it
- Reducing stress in your life will have a bigger impact than you think
- You will sleep during the day and wake at night
- You will get anxious and depressed and need help getting through it
- You will downplay symptoms and exaggerate symptoms
- You will be selfish and not follow through with your word
- It will change your identity
- You will go on holidays and spend more time with your loved ones
- You will take your pills but not practice your instrument enough
- You will not eat that Mediterranean diet
- You will not want to leave the house
- Most evenings you will have difficulty speaking
- It will affect much more than your memory
- Some months you will have less foggy days
- You will learn new things easier than you thought
- You will not turn to God or spend your days thinking about the meaning of life
- You will want to advocate
- You will not think about death
- You will not be scared
- And everybody's experience of dementia is different
Crucially, that last point sums up that everyone will have different experiences and relationships with the heartbreaking disease, but it seems as if Fraser is learning to live with it and adapting to this new way of life.
Topics: Health, Mental Health, YouTube
James Moorhouse