{"id":3903,"date":"2005-06-16T23:56:58","date_gmt":"2005-06-17T03:56:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2005\/06\/16\/peridementia-and-our-aging-kn"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:57:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:57:38","slug":"peridementia-and-our-aging-knowledge-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2005\/06\/16\/peridementia-and-our-aging-knowledge-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"peridementia and our aging knowledge workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Do you suffer from “<\/font>peri<\/font><\/a>–<\/font>dementia<\/font><\/a>“? Would you want to hire a lawyer or<\/font><\/p>\n

doctor, or any <\/font>knowledge worker<\/font><\/a>, who did?\u00a0 <\/font><\/p>\n

Similar to <\/font>perimenopause<\/font><\/a>, what I call peridementia<\/em> is the period <\/font><\/p>\n

before actual dementia occurs, in which the subject starts to have <\/font><\/p>\n

a mild version of the loss of intellectual capacity that is associated <\/font><\/p>\n

with dementia — i.e.<\/em>, impairment of attention, orientation, memory, <\/font><\/p>\n

judgment, language, motor and spatial skills, and function (not <\/font><\/p>\n

caused by major depression). <\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

To be called dementia, the symptoms have to be severe enough to \"ekgG\"<\/font><\/p>\n

“interfere with social or occupational functioning.” I’ve been wondering, <\/font><\/p>\n

however, just when interference with job functioning becomes significant <\/font><\/p>\n

enough that something needs to be said and done about it. <\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If my otherwise-healthy, middle class and professional, over-50 friends are <\/font><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

any indication, there’s a lot of peri-dementia going around. People who joked <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

a few years ago about their first batch of Senior Moments, aren’t joking any <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

more. We seem to be having “brainos<\/em>” that are quite a bit more worrisome than <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

the increased numbers of typos found in our documents. They include episodes of <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

mild confusion and disorientation; skipping steps in necessary tasks; and memory <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

lapses considerably more important than the proverbial word on the tip of our tongues.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

cuckoo<\/font><\/font>
\nwhat did you forget?<\/font><\/font>
\nretracing steps<\/font><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font>ISSA<\/strong><\/font><\/a>, translated by <\/font>David G. Lanoue<\/strong><\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

I’ve been meaning to talk about this topic here at f\/k\/a<\/em> for several months, but <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

I kept forgetting (rim shot!). A spate of news stories finally got me to buckle <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

down and do some thinking, linking and posting. <\/font><\/font>Baby Boomers, and generations<\/font><\/p>\n

to follow, are going to be working longer — some because they have to and some <\/font><\/p>\n

because they want to do so.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n