Characteristics of Delirium and Dementia

Delirium

• Fluctuating levels of awareness and symptoms
• Sudden onset
• Clouding of consciousness
• Perceptual disturbances (hallucinations, illusions)
• Memory disturbance, more often for recent events
• Highly distractible
• Reversibility possible with treatment

Dementia

• Slow, insidious onset with less fluctuation of symptoms
• Deterioration of cognitive abilities
• Impaired long-and short-term memory (memory impairment always present)
• Personality changes
• May focus on one thing for a long time
• Often irreversible