Is Dementia the Right Name?

Terms for common medical and psychological conditions change over time. As new research emerges, we need to reconsider our naming practices to best reflect our understanding.

“Dementia” has become a popular label used to describe a wide range of neurological phenomena in aging adults. Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) replaced this term in their diagnostic manual with “Neurocognitive Disorders (NCD).”

There are several reasons for this name shift. As a catch-all, dementia fails to reflect the complex medical nuances of NCD. Further, the APA decision reflects dementia’s troubling semantic relationship with the word “demented,” or insane.

In a clinical setting, medical and insurance professionals are already familiar with and working with the new NCD classification for care. For those caring for someone with these disorders, understanding the language around the health condition can be critical.

Gerontologist Karen D. Austin’s thoughtful overview of this name shift can be found at:

http://thegenerationaboveme.blogspot.com/2017/03/apa-using-ncd-not-dementia.html