By Lauren Kipfer, LCSW | Goodwin Living Brain Health Advance Team
At Goodwin Living, we consider brain health an important part of how we support people of all ages through every stage of aging. As part of organization-wide efforts, we created a Brain Health Advance Team that brings together a multidisciplinary group of colleagues to advocate for ways Goodwin Living can continue to advance efforts in this area. Comprised of experts in a range of disciplines that include social work and recreational therapy, the group reaffirms its commitment to brain health through educational events, cognitive wellness initiatives and support for older adults navigating memory and cognitive changes.
Dementia and depression are two of the most commonly confused conditions in older adults. While they are fundamentally different conditions, each with distinct causes and treatment approaches, they share enough symptoms that even experienced medical professionals can sometimes find diagnosis challenging.
If you or a loved one is trying to make sense of changes in memory, mood or cognition, understanding the difference between depression and dementia in older adults is one of the most important first steps.
What Is Dementia?
Dementia is not a singular disease. It is an umbrella term for a decline in cognitive abilities that is serious enough to interfere with daily life. Common symptoms of dementia may include the following:
- Memory loss that affects daily functioning
- Difficulty with problem-solving or complex tasks
- Confusion about time or place
- Changes in mood or personality
Dementia is typically progressive, meaning symptoms worsen gradually over time. Someone with dementia may repeat the same question within minutes, become confused about where they are or struggle to manage tasks that they have typically been able to handle independently.
A person with dementia may not recognize that something is wrong, or they may minimize what others notice. That lack of awareness is itself a clinical indicator, and it is one of the key things that set dementia apart from depression.
What Is Depression?
Depression is a mood disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks and functions every day. It is more common in older adults than many people realize, and it frequently goes underdiagnosed. Symptoms of depression may include:
- Persistent sadness or hopelessness
- Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
- Fatigue and low energy
- Changes in sleep and appetite
- Difficulty concentrating
Depression is often treatable. With the right support, many individuals living with this mood disorder can improve meaningfully. The ability to treat depression is a critical distinction from dementia, because what can look and feel like serious cognitive decline may, in some cases, be corrected with treatment plans designed to address depression.
Why Dementia and Depression Are Often Confused
Dementia and depression frequently co-occur and can mimic one another, particularly in older adults. Both conditions can produce these symptoms:
- Memory complaints and difficulty concentrating
- Low motivation and withdrawal from social activities
- Changes in sleep and appetite
- A general slowing down in daily life
In some cases, the overlap becomes so significant that depression can closely resemble dementia, a phenomenon clinicians sometimes refer to as pseudodementia. Someone experiencing pseudodementia may show memory problems, slowed thinking and low motivation severe enough to resemble cognitive decline. The key distinction is that treating depression can often improve these symptoms significantly.
While only a medical professional can make a definitive diagnosis, there are several important differences families may notice:
- How quickly it came on. Depression can develop over weeks or months and often connects to a specific life event, such as the loss of a spouse, a serious health diagnosis or a major life transition. Dementia tends to develop slowly over years, with changes that are harder to tie to any single moment.
- The nature of the cognitive decline. Depression typically makes it hard to focus or concentrate. Dementia tends to cause true memory impairment, particularly short-term memory, where information simply does not get retained.
- Whether the person knows something is wrong. Someone with depression is often painfully aware of their cognitive changes and distressed by them. Someone with dementia may not recognize their own deficits at all, or may minimize them when others raise concern.
- Orientation to time and place. Though some who live with depression may experience brain fogs, depression generally does not cause someone to become confused about where they are, what day it is or who people around them are. Dementia can.
- Response to treatment. Depression often responds to treatment, and cognitive symptoms may improve alongside mood. The cognitive decline associated with dementia is generally not reversible, though the right care and support can help manage symptoms.
This is why clinical evaluations should assess both mood and cognition together. For families, it also means that noticing and naming emotional changes in a loved one could matter just as much as noticing cognitive ones.
If you or a loved one is noticing changes, seek a professional evaluation as your first step. Early and accurate diagnosis opens the door to the right treatment, the right support and better outcomes.
Brain Health Support Is Available at Goodwin Living
At Goodwin Living, we believe brain health deserves attention, support and compassionate care at every stage of aging. Our organizational efforts and commitment led us to introduce Goodwin Brain Health in 2025, bringing together our teams to do even more to help older adults and families better understand cognitive changes, navigate complex diagnoses and access meaningful support designed to promote quality of life and overall well-being.
StrongerMemory is one of the programs born from that commitment. Designed for living with mild cognitive impairment and established in 2020, StrongerMemory is a proven program that offers a simple program of daily exercises that may help improve cognitive function and reduce the effects of memory decline. Whether you or your loved one is proactively protecting brain health or looking for structured support, StrongerMemory may be a meaningful place to start.
Through Goodwin Living Health, our clinical teams support older adults and families navigating conditions like depression, dementia and the complex territory in between, from home health and care coordination to more specialized services.
If you are seeking answers, support or simply a better understanding of the changes you or a loved one may be experiencing, you do not have to navigate it alone. At Goodwin Living, we are committed to helping older adults and families access the guidance, care and resources they need at every stage of the journey.
We are here for you, and we are glad you are asking the right questions.
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Lauren Kipfer is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker serving on both the Care Connections team and the Home Health team at Goodwin Living. She helps older adults navigate their health journeys with compassion and care every day. Lauren is a proud member of the Goodwin Living Brain Health Advance Team, a dedicated group of professionals who lead the organization’s strategic focus on brain health, from early awareness and prevention to care and support across the full continuum of aging.
