Hi everyone. I've just joined here. I'm not sure if posting here is going to help me but I am very concerned about my mental health and so am trying to cover every option at the moment. If I can explain my condition and the various procedures I have gone through then maybe someone can shed some light on it for me.
I am a 51 year old man who is in good physical shape but I have been suffering from a condition that is gradually getting worse over time. I am concerned that this may be early onset dementia. I firstly started having these feelings about 5 years ago. I have a feeling of being completely detached from the world and have whole days and even weeks where I can barely remember what I have done. I also now seem to be having complete loss of memory of many notable things that I have done in the past. My partner will talk about something we have done together and I very rarely can remember these things even though they are special moments and occasions. I have also noticed more recently that I have absolutely no emotional feelings whatsoever for anything. Its as if my head has just switched off. Yes, I can do regular things like work practices, driving, having conversations, and even carrying out complex actions such as playing a musical instrument, but I barely have any recollection of doing these things and have to ask people if I have been OK. In all instances people have said that I have been fine. Its as if my mind is on autopilot but I can't remember those autopilot actions. I have been to see my doctor on a number of occasions, have been to a neurologist a couple of times, had CAT and MRI scans and also have had memory tests. With all meetings and tests I have been certified as being fine although the MRI scans have flagged up that I have some unspecified white spots on the brain, although I was assured by the neurologist that this was not uncommon for someone of my age. My doctor has suggested that these feelings can be caused by depression however, when I first started having these feelings I was definitely not depressed, but have actually now started suffering from depression due to any lack of understanding of what these symptoms are being caused by. In effect, depression has not triggered these symptoms. Its actually the other way around. I have explained this to my doctor and am now waiting for new memory tests but feel as if I am going around in circles.
As a result of all this I feel as if my life is in limbo as I am not being given any information about what is going on. Can anyone shed any light on these symptoms? Are they likely to be depression related or is there something more sinister at work here?
I am a 51 year old man who is in good physical shape but I have been suffering from a condition that is gradually getting worse over time. I am concerned that this may be early onset dementia. I firstly started having these feelings about 5 years ago. I have a feeling of being completely detached from the world and have whole days and even weeks where I can barely remember what I have done. I also now seem to be having complete loss of memory of many notable things that I have done in the past. My partner will talk about something we have done together and I very rarely can remember these things even though they are special moments and occasions. I have also noticed more recently that I have absolutely no emotional feelings whatsoever for anything. Its as if my head has just switched off. Yes, I can do regular things like work practices, driving, having conversations, and even carrying out complex actions such as playing a musical instrument, but I barely have any recollection of doing these things and have to ask people if I have been OK. In all instances people have said that I have been fine. Its as if my mind is on autopilot but I can't remember those autopilot actions. I have been to see my doctor on a number of occasions, have been to a neurologist a couple of times, had CAT and MRI scans and also have had memory tests. With all meetings and tests I have been certified as being fine although the MRI scans have flagged up that I have some unspecified white spots on the brain, although I was assured by the neurologist that this was not uncommon for someone of my age. My doctor has suggested that these feelings can be caused by depression however, when I first started having these feelings I was definitely not depressed, but have actually now started suffering from depression due to any lack of understanding of what these symptoms are being caused by. In effect, depression has not triggered these symptoms. Its actually the other way around. I have explained this to my doctor and am now waiting for new memory tests but feel as if I am going around in circles.
As a result of all this I feel as if my life is in limbo as I am not being given any information about what is going on. Can anyone shed any light on these symptoms? Are they likely to be depression related or is there something more sinister at work here?