Confusion Confusion Confusion is likewise difficult to define. Confusion and dementia may occur together.
Confusion usually affects recent memory and is of fairly rapid onset.
The patient loses a sense of time and place. He or she may feel agitated and sometimes has hallucinations, hears voices, or feels that he or she does not really exist. The medical term for this condition is delirium. If the patient is confused, he or she needs a friend or relative to stay, to prevent him or her from coming to any harm. Sit the patient down, preferably in familiar surroundings, and talk quietly about familiar things.