Right. Should dementia be classified within mental health or physical health?

And what difference does it make?

Memory services in this country diagnose, support and “treat” people living with dementia. And memory services are by and large provided by mental health trusts.

So dementia is mental health.

Dementia, on the other hand, results from disease of the brain, physical disease. It’s not about memory loss due to ageing or stress or medications or (usually) other conditions.

Dementia results from physical disease.

“Memory” clinic as a name suggests dementia is just about memory. Wrong. Dementia is the generic name for difficulties with perception, physical capabilities like speech and swallowing, memory, recognition, understanding, word finding…

Memory is just one piece of the jigsaw, the one that most people know about.

So dementia is about living, about occupational therapy, about using your “facilities” as often as possible so you don’t lose them. And…