Confusion is the inability to think with your usual speed or clarity, including feeling disoriented and having difficulty paying attention, remembering, and making decisions.
See also: Dementia, for more information about chronic or long-term confusion.
Alternative NamesDisorientation; Thinking - unclear; Thoughts - cloudy
ConsiderationsConfusion may come on quickly or slowly over time, depending on the cause. Many times, confusion is temporary. Other times it is permanent and not curable. It may be associated with delirium or dementia.
Confusion is more common in the elderly, and often occurs during a hospital stay.
Some confused people may have strange or unusual behavior or may act aggressively.
Common CausesA good way to find out if someone is confused is to ask the person his or her name, age, and the date. If they are unsure or answer incorrectly, they are confused.
For sudden confusion due to low blood sugar (for example, from Diabetes medication), the person should drink a sweet drink or eat a sweet snack. If the confusion lasts longer than 10 minutes, call the doctor.
A confused person should not be left alone. For safety, the person may need physical restraints.
To help a confused person:
For sudden confusion due to low blood sugar (for example, from diabetes medication), the person should drink a sweet drink or eat a sweet snack. If the confusion lasts longer than 10 minutes, call the doctor.
See also: Dementia - home care
Call your health care provider ifCall 911 if:
If you have been experiencing confusion, call for an appointment with your doctor.
What to expect at your health care provider's officeThe doctor will do a physical examination and ask questions such as:
Tests may include:
Inouye SK. Delirium and other mental status problems in the older patient. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 26.
Knopman DS. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 425.
Confusion is the inability to think with your usual speed or clarity, including feeling disoriented and having difficulty paying attention, remembering, and making decisions.
See also: Dementia, for more information about chronic or long-term confusion.
Alternative NamesDisorientation; Thinking - unclear; Thoughts - cloudy
ConsiderationsConfusion may come on quickly or slowly over time, depending on the cause. Many times, confusion is temporary. Other times it is permanent and not curable. It may be associated with delirium or dementia.
Confusion is more common in the elderly, and often occurs during a hospital stay.
Some confused people may have strange or unusual behavior or may act aggressively.
Common CausesA good way to find out if someone is confused is to ask the person his or her name, age, and the date. If they are unsure or answer incorrectly, they are confused.
For sudden confusion due to low blood sugar (for example, from diabetes medication), the person should drink a sweet drink or eat a sweet snack. If the confusion lasts longer than 10 minutes, call the doctor.
A confused person should not be left alone. For safety, the person may need physical restraints.
To help a confused person:
For sudden confusion due to low blood sugar (for example, from diabetes medication), the person should drink a sweet drink or eat a sweet snack. If the confusion lasts longer than 10 minutes, call the doctor.
See also: Dementia - home care
Call your health care provider ifCall 911 if:
If you have been experiencing confusion, call for an appointment with your doctor.
What to expect at your health care provider's officeThe doctor will do a physical examination and ask questions such as:
Tests may include:
Inouye SK. Delirium and other mental status problems in the older patient. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 26.
Knopman DS. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 425.
Reviewed ByReview Date: 02/06/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Luc Jasmin, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, and Department of Anatomy at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
To mill means to move around in confusion.
If this question is about psychology, the confusion principal is essentially the fact that humans need patterns in their life to feel secure and without those patterns we become confused, anxious, even scared.
Doc Brown. (It does not exist in real life, to avoid any confusion.)
They move through the room with confusion, and excitement and move freely and quite widely apart.
This looks like a confusion with 186,000 MILES per second, which is the speed of light.
Con is the prefix for the word confusion.
There is no TM for Confusion
Coordinates of Confusion was created on 2010-10-08.
The Confusion was created in 2004.
The Confusion has 815 pages.
ConFusion - convention - was created in 1974.
Confusion Bay was created in 2004.
Confusion - novella - was created in 1927.
A Confucian Confusion was created in 1994.
Love or Confusion was created in 1967.
Confusion Unlimited was created in 2003.
Use Your Confusion was created in 2006.