Is depression the cause of her forgetfulness?

West Los Angeles

Natalie Stone is not sure what the cause of her failing memory is, but she knows it's not what it used to be. "My memory is gone," she says.

Normally punctual, she finds herself late for appointments because she gets confused about where they are. She used to get a lot accomplished, but now she struggles with household clutter and disorganization that make her ashamed to invite friends over. She writes herself notes that get lost in the disorder and, long a capable cook, now finds herself unmotivated or too disoriented to make herself a proper meal.

"I think I've been a mess for the past year," Stone says. "The newer people in my life I would tend to forget, and even old, old faces I don't remember. . . . I used to know everybody's name, and now it's difficult."

Stone, a proud single mother who raised four accomplished sons on her own, sometimes thinks her children are right when they tell her it's depression that is causing her difficulties. A physician she consulted last week is exploring whether some of her medications could be contributing to her mental lapses. She feels sleepy and tired -- never rested -- during the day, she says, and wonders if that's the root of her problem.

Any of those surmises -- depression, medications and sleep disruption -- could be the answer to her memory mystery, and physicians will frequently explore those factors and others when a person with memory complaints comes in.

But Stone is not waiting for things to get worse: She has joined the memory club of her local Alzheimer's Assn. chapter and has been on two medications for Alzheimer's disease. One of those medications, she thinks, may be addressing her depression. But only time -- and further tests -- will tell whether her cognitive complaints are a sign of degenerative disease or a treatable condition.

-- Melissa Healy