Anosognosia in dementia isn't the same as denial ... It's important to understand that someone who has anosognosia in dementia isn't just being difficult or in ...Whywouldn’tsomeonebelievetheyhavedementia?Familycaregiversoftenask“howdoyoutellsomeonetheyhavedementia”?Andinsomecases,theanswermaybethatyousimplycan’t.DamageinthebraincancausepeoplewithAlzheimer’s,dementia,stroke,braintumors,andothercognitiveimpairmentstobelievethatthere’snothingwrongwiththem.Whenthathappens,it’scalledanosognosia(pronouncedah-no-sog-NOH-zee-uh,hearithere).Thewordliterallymeans“tonotknowadisease”andit’smuchmorethanbeingindenial.Weexplainwhatitmeanswhensomeonehasanosognosiaanddoesn’tbelievetheyhavedementiaandwhyit’sdifferentfromdenial.Wealsoshare6suggestionsforhelpingsomeonewithanosognosiawhodoesn’twantassistance,butclearlyneedsit. Advertisement Whatisanosognosiaindementia?Anosognosiaisaconditionthatcausessomeonetobeunawareoftheirmentalhealthconditionandhowitaffectsthem.It’scommoninsomeconditions,includingdementia.So,someonewhohasbeenproperlydiagnosedwithdementia,buthasanosognosia,doesn’tknoworbelievethattheyhavedementia.However,anosognosiasymptomsmayvarysignificantlyfrompersontoperson,changeovertime,andmightevenfluctuatewithinaday.Thepersonmightsometimesunderstandwhat’shappeningandothertimesfirmlybelievethatthey’recompletelyfine.Andotherpeoplemightonlybepartiallyawarethatthere’ssomethingwrong.Theunawarenessofcognitiveimpairmentcanberelatedtomemory,generalthinkingskills,emotions,orphysicalabilities.Theymighthaveoccasionaldifficultywithlanguageskills,likefindingwords,buttheycanexplainawaythesesituationswithexcusesaboutforgetfulnessorfatigue.Andeveniftheyforgettobathe,missappointments,orburnfoodonthestove,they’restilllikelytoinsistthattheydon’tneedhelp.They’llprobablyalsoinsistthatthey’reabsolutelycapableoflivingindependently–despiteclearevidencethatthingsaregoingwrong.Ifsomeoneremindsthemoftheircognitiveimpairment,someonewithanosognosiamaygetangryanddefensivebecauseintheirmindthey’re100%conv