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Psychogeriatrics

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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This speciality deals with the problems of psychiatric illness in old age.

The practice of psychiatry in old age is distinguished by several factors:

  • psychiatric illness is more common in old age, often goes unrecognised and tends to run a chronic relapsing course
  • in old age the risk of many kinds of disability is high. Psychiatric illness often contributes to a complex problem in which physical illness, strained personal relationships, and social hardship can play a part
  • death is closer in old age than in youth, and enforced dependence on others is common. Each old person has their own view on the value of autonomy and on the approach of death, and there is an ethical dimension to most management decisions in psychogeriatrics

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