Senile psychosis

Senile psychosis (senile psychosis) occurs in old age; These include senile dementia, late depression and paranoids.

Senile dementia is characterized by steady impoverishment and disintegration of mental activity. The weakening of mental activity also occurs with physiological aging, but senile dementia is not a quantitative enhancement of this process, but a pathological phenomenon. Such patients constitute, according to different authors, 12-25% of the total number of patients with psychiatric diseases of a late age.

Etiology, pathogenesis are unknown. Women are sick more often than men. The risk of disease in families with senile dementia is higher than among the rest of the population. Associated somatic diseases modify and weight the picture of psychosis.

The average age of onset of the disease is 70-78 years, its duration is 5-8 years. Initial manifestations are slowly growing personality changes-coarsening, egocentrism, stinginess. Individual characteristics of character are lost. Along with this, there is growing dementia - the level of judgment decreases, the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills, memory reserves are lost - at first the recent experience, then the experience of earlier periods of life, confabulation (false memories), and speech impoverishment. Only elementary physical needs are preserved. Against the background of progressive dementia, reduced psychotic states are possible-anxious or angry-grumbling depressions, delusions of material damage (theft, spoilage), jealousy. The states of confusion with fussy anxiety usually arise when combined with somatic diseases;

The late depression and late paranoids are not caused by gross organic destructive processes. Depression is relatively mild, but long, characterized by gloominess, discontent, hypochondriacal experiences. The content of experiences with late paranoids is limited to small-scale delusions of damage, damage, persecution.

There is no pathogenetic treatment for senile dementia. Symptomatic therapy is performed. In psychotic states, confusion states with anxiety neuroleptics with sedative action (sonapax, tizercin) in small doses are shown. When depression is prescribed a small dose of antidepressants with sedative effect (amitriptyline, pyrazidol). In sleep disorders, tranquilizers and neuroheptics with hypnotic properties (radedorm, phenazepam, chlorp-rotixene) are shown. Care of the patient becomes important.