Dr. Hughes. Dementia, amentia and destrumentia. — The Alienist and Neurologist, 1909

The word dementia is still used very differently and in relation to states that are far from being equivalent. Dementia, apparently, is a complete decline in mental activity, and yet sometimes the same term is used for mild cases of paresis mentis. By this they want to highlight the position that the word dementia is applicable to cases of disorder of thought, but not of affect. For most psychiatrists, dementia means a complete or almost complete loss of the normal ability to think, that is, when, under the influence of illness or age, mental strength is destroyed. The term amentia is applicable in cases where individuals from birth did not possess mentality, i.e., thinking, which is observed in idiots and profoundly stupid people.