In October 1914, Deakin wrote that he had "no continuity of memory or argument" and relied upon "impressions that fade or are forgotten in a few minutes and often in a few seconds". In November 1915, he wrote that he could remember what he had read for only a few hours and that "no collapse could be ghastlier". The following month, he wrote that "I have now become a mere juggler with myself [...] my helpless attempts to read the riddle of my mind and thought must be frankly abandoned". At her urging, Deakin and his wife left Australia in September 1916 to seek advice from specialists in England and the United States, and also to visit their daughter Vera in London. They returned to Australia in early 1917, after which he was generally confined to his home in South Yarra and only saw family members.