Memory Is Fading — But Is It Always Dementia? The Method's View on Causes

When someone notices they're remembering worse and thinking slower, the first thought is often the scariest: "I'm getting dementia." But within the method, it's important to ask a different question first — why are the neurons no longer working at full capacity at all? Memory decline is a symptom, not a verdict, and many different causes can lie behind it.

Memory suffers where neurons suffer

The doctor highlights a simple but important point: people often "don't understand that their neurons simply aren't functioning." They arrive with a ready-made story that "dementia is starting" or that a neurodegenerative disease is forming, and they fixate on it. But slower thinking and trouble quickly recalling facts and details can stem from entirely different states — for example organic depression, which arises secondarily, against the background of an existing health problem.

When "dementia" turns out to be something else

The method stresses that a person may be in the grip of functional disturbances — organic or endogenous depression, the aftermath of an infection, menopause, poorly treated sleep problems. In those cases, memory decline isn't neurodegeneration but a temporary "dead battery" state. The doctor gives vivid examples: a student before an exam, someone who has to learn something or pass certification at work, women aged 50–55. After rest or recovery, "it all lets go at once." That's why the functional disturbance itself must be diagnosed first — only then can we speak of dementia markers.

Ready-made stories that fall apart

The doctor notes a curious pattern: people arrive with an already-built narrative — "they were cursed," "they bought the wrong broom," or with a whole set of psychological interpretations and complex terms. They locate the cause "somewhere in life," cherishing their story like a film or a fairy tale. But behind it usually lies something simple — "the neurons, the brain, aren't working." Tellingly, such concepts "fall completely apart once treatment begins": as the state improves, the invented theories quickly lose their relevance.

Tests show a status, not a cause

The method evaluates modern memory and neurodegeneration tests with restraint. Questionnaires that ask how much a person recalls are called "very crude" — they give a status at a moment but say little about the cause. Even advanced approaches with algorithms and so-called artificial intelligence are essentially "just programs that process our parameters." They show a tendency, the direction reality is moving in, but they aren't fit for clinical predictions: even knowing a 20-year forecast, we still can't intervene at the cell level and change protein synthesis in neurons.

What we can really do now

Since gene engineering for neurons doesn't yet exist, the method offers a simple but honest direction: do the maximum to preserve neuron capacity and delay their death. The key word here is homeostasis. Second comes caring for the neocortex and psychic health as a whole.

Practice: protecting your neurons (the method's checklist)

1. Don't diagnose yourself. If memory "drops off," that's a signal to check for functional disturbances (depression, post-infection effects, sleep problems), not a reason to immediately assume dementia.
2. Support homeostasis — this is the first and main condition for healthy neuron function.
3. Movement and oxygen. "There's no getting away from activity and oxygen" — neurons need working capacity.
4. Remember the neocortex and psychic health — memory decline often reflects the overall state, not an isolated "memory breakdown."
5. Don't cling to a ready-made story of the cause — it often falls apart once the state improves.