The person you care for may show a decreased interest in daily tasks and activities, even if it is a task or activity that they are able to perform. Often, they will even have little motivation to complete personal care tasks such as bathing grooming or dressing. They are reluctant to participate in recreational or social activities that they used to enjoy, and seem less inclined to do these things as the day progresses. The person you care for shows little or no interest in current events and is not interested in the lives of those around them. They spend a great deal of time sitting in a chair or in bed doing nothing and staring off into space.

People with frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia
A type of dementia that mainly affects the frontal lobe causing a problem in executive function tasks. often present as apathetic Apathetic
See apathy. in the early stages Stages
Course of disease progression defined by levels or periods of severity: early, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe. They will often withdraw from activities due to a loss of interest, or lack of motivation to complete a task. While memory Memory
The ability to process information that requires attention, storage, and retrieval. remains intact, attention and interest are not present. Decreased interest in previously enjoyed activities is also a sign Sign
In medicine a sign is what a physician finds by examining a patient. For example, a patient with the symptom of pain might have signs of a fast heart rate, a pale face, a clammy touch and tenderness. of depression Depression
A disorder where a person experiences a constant state of sadness and low mood which interferes with their daily activity.. Decreased interest and initiative are also common in Lewy body dementia, and in most types of vascular Vascular
Relating to blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body. dementia, as well as in Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease
A progressive, neurodegenerative disease characterized by the death of neurons in the brain. The disease has been linked to a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine which has consequences such as tremors, speech impediments, movement difficulties, and often dementia later in the course of the disease. dementia.

The first step in taking a more active role in symptom Symptom
In medicine a symptom is what the patient complains of. For example, a a patient may have symptoms of pain and fatigue. management is understanding how a symptom is affecting everyday life; the next step is communicating this knowledge to the care planning team and family members. SymptomGuide^TM is designed with these goals in mind.

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