A sudden, major change in personality and/or behavior can indicate a serious underlying issue, often related to mental health or some medical conditions.
Healthy people differ significantly in their overall personality, mood, and behavior. Each person also varies from day to day, depending on the circumstances. However, a sudden, major change in personality and/or behavior, particularly one that is not related to an obvious event (such as taking a drug or losing a loved one), often indicates a problem.
If someone changes in mental status from awake, alert, oriented to who they are, where they are and the time of day with overall mood in that person’s behavior it doesn’t always mean it is a mental condition like dementia. It could be as simple as low blood sugar or hypothyroidism or a more serious condition.
Other things it could be is:
-Confusion and delirium refer to a disturbance of consciousness. That is, people are less aware of their environment and, depending on the cause, may be excessively agitated and belligerent or drowsy and sluggish. Some people alternate between being less alert and being overly alert. Their thinking appears cloudy and slow or inappropriate. They have trouble focusing on simple questions and are slow to respond. Speech may be slurred. Often, people do not know what day it is, and they may not be able to say where they are. Some cannot give their name.
-Delusions are fixed false beliefs that people hold despite evidence to the contrary. Some delusions are based on a misinterpretation of actual perceptions and experiences. For example, people may feel persecuted, thinking that a person behind them on the street is following them or that an ordinary accident is purposeful sabotage. Other people think that song lyrics or newspaper articles contain messages that refer specifically to them.
Some beliefs seem more plausible and can be difficult to identify as delusions because they could occur or have occurred in real life. For example, people occasionally are followed by government investigators or have their work sabotaged by coworkers. In such cases, a belief can be identified as a delusion by how strongly people hold the belief despite evidence to the contrary.
Other delusions are easier to identify. For example, in religious or grandiose delusions, people may believe they are Jesus or the president of the country. Some delusions are quite bizarre. For example, people may think that their organs have all been replaced by machine parts or that their head contains a radio that receives messages from the government.
-Disorganized speech refers to speech that does not contain the expected logical connections between thoughts or between questions and answers. For example, people may jump from one topic to another without ever finishing a thought. The topics may be slightly related or entirely unrelated. In other cases, people respond to simple questions with long, rambling answers, full of irrelevant detail. Answers may be illogical or completely incoherent. This type of speech differs from the difficulty expressing or understanding language (aphasia) or forming words (dysarthria) that is caused by a brain disorder such as stroke.
Occasionally misspeaking or intentionally being evasive, rude, or humorous is not considered disorganized speech.
-Disorganized behavior refers to doing quite unusual things (such as undressing or masturbating in public or shouting and swearing for no apparent reason) or to being unable to behave normally. People with disorganized behavior typically have trouble doing normal daily activities (such as maintaining good personal hygiene or obtaining food).
-Drugs may affect personality or behavior when they cause Intoxication: Particularly alcohol (when consumed in large amounts), amphetamines, cocaine, hallucinogens (such as LSD), phencyclidine (PCP), any narcotic. Side effects: From drugs intended to affect brain function.
These disorders can affect personality, mood, and behavior. They include
1. Alzheimer’s disease, is the most common form of dementia characterized by progressive memory loss, cognitive decline, and behavioral changes that primarily are affecting older adults.
2. Brain infections, such as meningitis, encephalitis, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection that involves the brain (called HIV-associated encephalopathy)
3.Brain Tumors, they are a growth of cells in the brain or near it. Brain tumors can happen in the brain tissue. Brain tumors also can happen near the brain tissue. Nearby locations include nerves, the pituitary gland, the pineal gland, and the membranes that cover the surface of the brain.
Brain tumors can begin in the brain. These are called primary brain tumors. Sometimes, cancer spreads to the brain from other parts of the body. These tumors are secondary brain tumors, also called metastatic brain tumors. They can be cancerous or benign.
Many different types of primary brain tumors exist.
4.Head Injuries, such as a concussion and post-concussion syndrome
5-Multiple Sclerosis, which is a disease that causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves. Multiple sclerosis can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms. It’s also known as MS.
6-Parkinson disease, which is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. The nervous system is a network of nerve cells that controls many parts of the body, including movement.
7-Seizure disorders, this disease covers a range of conditions characterized by abnormal electrical activity in the brain causing seizures to occur.
8-Stroke, which is a medical emergency that happens when something prevents your brain from getting enough blood flow. A blocked blood vessel or bleeding in your brain can cause stroke to occur. Strokes are the second leading cause of death worldwide and the fifth most common in the U.S.