Geriatric Psychiatry: Things to Know, Symptoms and Treatments

Geriatric psychiatry is also known as psychogeriatrics or psychiatry of old age. Geriatric psychiatrists focus on the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders in the elderly. Besides this, they also work to enhance psychiatric care for both healthy and unwell older patients.

Geriatric psychiatry is a medical speciality focused on the biological and psychological effects of ageing. It investigates how older patients' psychological well-being is affected by both acute and chronic physical sickness.

Furthermore, this branch's main areas of focus are the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional illnesses in the elderly.

Studies show that there is significant mental health morbidity in adults above 60 years of age in India. Approximately 20.5% of older individuals are estimated to suffer from mental health morbidity. Also, surveys revealed that India's approximately 17.13 million older citizens suffer from mental health disorders.

Regardless, a few of the common issues faced by people with geriatric psychiatry include the following.

1. Depression

The older population frequently experiences depression. In this regard, a few possible causes include the loss of a spouse, loneliness, empty nest syndrome, decreased mobility, and trouble transitioning to retirement

Psychologists sometimes define old age as integrity versus despair. Here, integrity is often experienced by those who are content with and accepting of their lives as they have lived. But unfortunately, many people tend to look back with worries or feel hopeless about their present situation.

2. Dementia

Dementia is typically observed in individuals over the age of 65. This neurodegenerative condition, dementia, is characterised by issues with intellectual functioning, and the most notable characteristic is memory loss.

In this case, as the neurons or brain cells age, people may begin to forget names, locations, things, and other crucial information. Also, it's not uncommon for people to experience issues like wandering off in public, trouble remembering words, irritability, restlessness, sleep disorders, and occasionally delusions.

3. Delirium

Delirium is typically a passing mental condition characterised by confusion, disorientation, and the inability to think or recall things effectively. Most of the time, it lasts for many days or more.

Some of the symptoms include changes in alertness level, disorientation, difficulty concentrating, talking illogically, sleep disruptions, mood changes, hallucinations, and delusions. In this regard, the elderly population can experience this issue more frequently than younger people. To cure it, psychiatric and neurological care is necessary, but occupational therapy is also used.

4. Normal Ageing

The ability to identify cognitive impairment depends on awareness of the personality and cognitive changes that come with ageing. Age-related changes in sleep, eyesight, and glomerular filtration rate are typical and usually expected. Besides this, the psychomotor speed and the capacity for multitasking also decline and do not portend more significant damage.

Regardless, with time, vocabulary has the potential to get strong, and core personality qualities often remain constant. Furthermore, any changes in these qualities are symptoms of a mental illness or cognitive disorder.

5. Other Issues

In addition to the problems mentioned above, there are several other concerns about psychiatry that older people may encounter. These include clinical issues like OCD, psychosis, delusional illness, adjustment disorders, psychosis, and so on.

Geriatric psychiatrists can diagnose and treat a wide range of geriatric psychiatric diseases and symptoms, including:

• Problems overcoming the changes from ageing
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Agitation
• Death and bereavement
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Memory problems
• Schizophrenia
• Parkinson’s disease
• Chronic pain
• Emotional problems related to medical disorders (diabetes, health disease, stroke, etc.)

The subject of geriatric psychiatry explores particular aspects even though mental health disorders can be treated at any age. The difficulties of ageing and the physical and mental disorders can emerge later in life for some people. Hence, these must be recognised by a psychiatrist who treats problems peculiar to the geriatric community.

1. Group Therapy Programs

Group therapy can be beneficial because most senior patients share similar ailments and emotions. This enables patients to connect with others going through similar struggles and makes them feel less isolated. Also, it is frequently used in combination with individual treatment and medication.

Group therapy is executed through workshops conducted in group settings, which helps them maintain control. It is a component of inpatient and outpatient geriatric mental health treatment. These are non-traditional, like art, music, and theatre, and are also effective for senior patients.

2. Individualised Psychotherapy

Mental health issues that were not evident earlier in life can emerge in older persons. Combined with physical conditions, these disorders require a case-by-case analysis to decide the best course of action.

Therapy sessions catered to the specific patient's issues can be an effective treatment plan for various ailments, such as depression, anxiety, or mood disorders. Though inpatient treatment facilities may be required in more extreme circumstances to protect the patient's safety, these sessions can frequently be performed on an outpatient basis.

3. Psychopharmacology

In older people, psycho pharmacy is necessary for sustaining good health and quality of life. If not treated with psychoactive drugs, it can lead to disorientation, cognitive decline, and falls. Furthermore, older persons receive more benzodiazepine prescriptions than any other age group and are frequently kept on longer than necessary.

Hence, asking patients to bring their actual medication bottles to appointments might occasionally expose patient misinterpretations or accidental errors in consuming medications.

Regardless, all generations can have mental health issues, although some illnesses pose particular risks to elderly individuals. Hence, treating older persons in geriatric psychiatry confronts complex and occasionally specific geriatric psychiatric issues since the geriatric population has unique considerations, such as coexisting physical illnesses.