Compulsive Decluttering May Be a Sign of Undiagnosed Dementia

In response to a query in the Sentinel & Enterprise 's "Dear Annie" advice column, a writer suggests that compulsive decluttering may be a sign of undiagnosed dementia. "A few years ago, I discovered too late that my 77-year-old husband found a storage bin labeled 'Smith Family Mementos' in a closet, went through it, and threw most of it in the garbage before I got back from grocery shopping," the respondent notes. "I didn't notice anything was missing until days later, long after the garbage truck had come and gone. My husband was in the early, undiagnosed, and unrecognized stages of Alzheimer's disease." The respondent explains that as her husband lifted each item out of the bin, he failed to recognize the person or recall the event associated with it, so he discarded it. "Not long after, I started finding other important items in the trash, such as old military uniforms and important medical records," she continues. "Dementia doesn't just affect memory; it also affects judgment and time perception. With each passing day, dementia patients live more and more in the present only." Since her husband has been diagnosed, she has moved proactively to clear their house of small, but important items by shipping them off to relatives for safekeeping or putting them in lockable filing cabinets and lockboxes.