'My mum has dementia - the earliest sign I spotted was a change of behaviour during mealtimes'
Repetitive behaviour is among the earliest tell-tale signs of the condition
TIKTOK / @KAYLEIGHOGLEBY
Dementia indicators are notoriously subtle, making the condition difficult to pick up and treat in the earliest stages.
In some cases, people become aware of how prevalent the signs are only after their loved ones are diagnosed.
This was the case for Kayleigh Ogleby, who shared her personal experience of missing subtle signs of the condition while her mother was developing dementia.
She highlighted on TikTok how easily the signs can be overlooked by sharing anecdotes of her own mother's journey with the condition.
Kayleigh initially dismissed her mother's repetitive behaviour as a bizarre change of habit
TIKTOK / @KAYLEIGHOGLEBY
Looking back, she noticed that her mother developed a strict adherence to daily routines, something she had initially dismissed as a bizarre change of habit.
"Hindsight's a wonderful thing, but looking back I know that there were some early signs that I missed that my mum had dementia," she noted.
"I think the first sign that I probably missed was that she started to get obsessed with routine," Kayleigh explained.
This new rigid routine that her mother adopted included having specific meals on particular days of the week.
"She had to have the same food every day of the week, she'd buy a pizza on a Monday, fish and chips on a Friday," she recalled.
These rigid routines extended beyond daily meals into activities like going out for coffee, Kayleigh noted.
"She had to go for a coffee every day and had to leave the house at 9:45 every day, to go to the same place for coffee," Ogleby shared.
Again, Kayleigh noticed these patterns as something common among senior adults entering retirement.
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"I didn't really think much of it, but looking back, obviously this obsession with routine, I think that was one of the earlier signs that we possibly missed."
Care UK, a leading healthcare provider, confirmed that repetitive behaviours are common among people living with dementia and manifest in various ways, from repeating the same actions to asking identical questions multiple times.
The healthcare organisation noted that such behaviours often extend to cleaning habits.
"They may also become obsessed with making their space clean and tidy," Care UK explained on their website.
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