- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- 8.1 The biology of ageing
- 8.2 Sociology of normal ageing
- 8.3 The ageing population and the epidemiology of mental disorders among the elderly
- 8.4 Assessment of mental disorder in older patients
- 8.5 Special features of clinical syndromes in the elderly
- 8.5.2 Substance use disorders in older people
- 8.5.3 Schizophrenia and paranoid disorders in late life
- 8.5.4 Mood disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.5 Stress-related, anxiety, and obsessional disorders in elderly people
- 8.5.6 Personality disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.7 Suicide and deliberate self-harm in elderly people
- 8.5.8 Sex in old age
- 8.6 Special features of psychiatric treatment for the elderly
- 8.7 The planning and organization of services for older adults
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Mood disorders in the elderly
- Chapter:
- Mood disorders in the elderly
- Author(s):
Robert Baldwin
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0201
This chapter considers some of the commonly asked questions about mood disorders in later life. Is depression in later life a distinct clinical syndrome? How common is it? Is there an organic link, for example to cerebral changes, and if so, is there an increased risk of later dementia? Is it more difficult to diagnose and treat late-life depression, and once treated, is the outcome good, bad, or indifferent? The emphasis will be on depression but bipolar disorder and mania will also be considered.
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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- 8.1 The biology of ageing
- 8.2 Sociology of normal ageing
- 8.3 The ageing population and the epidemiology of mental disorders among the elderly
- 8.4 Assessment of mental disorder in older patients
- 8.5 Special features of clinical syndromes in the elderly
- 8.5.2 Substance use disorders in older people
- 8.5.3 Schizophrenia and paranoid disorders in late life
- 8.5.4 Mood disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.5 Stress-related, anxiety, and obsessional disorders in elderly people
- 8.5.6 Personality disorders in the elderly
- 8.5.7 Suicide and deliberate self-harm in elderly people
- 8.5.8 Sex in old age
- 8.6 Special features of psychiatric treatment for the elderly
- 8.7 The planning and organization of services for older adults
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry