Delirium (acute confusion)
Introduction
Being in a state of confusionmeans not being able to think clearly or quickly, feeling disorientated, and struggling to pay attention, make decisions, or remember things.
A simple test for confusion is to ask the persontheir name, age and today's date, and see if they seem unsure or answer incorrectly.
It's understandable tofear the worst and assume it's a sign of dementia but if the confusion came onover a short period of time(acute confusion), dementia is unlikely to be the sole cause.
Read on to find out:
- Delirium (acute confusion)
- common causesof sudden confusion
- more unusual causesof sudden confusion
Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 6 Dec 2016
Introduction
NHS Choices information on acute (sudden) confusion, with links to other useful resources.
What to do if someone is showing signs of confusion
If the confusion has come on suddenly, take them to your nearest hospitalor call 999 for an ambulance, especially if they're showing other signs of illness such asa fever, or their skin or lips are tu
Common causes of sudden confusion
The most common causes of sudden confusion are: a lack of oxygen in the blood (hypoxia) the cause could be anything from a severe asthma attack to aproblem with the lungs or heart an infection a
More unusual causes of sudden confusion
Less common causes of sudden confusion are: an infection of the brain or its lining (encephalitis or meningitis) an imbalance of salts and minerals in the blood a severely underactive thyroid g
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