Senile psychosis analysis of patient charts. Senile psychosis (senile psychosis and aggression): symptoms, signs and treatment. Acute forms of senile psychosis

Senile psychosis is a mental illness caused by progressive brain atrophy. It develops in people over 65 years of age. Violations can be different: inability to assess what is happening, anamnestic disorientation, memory decay, dementia, etc.

Symptoms

• Decreased interest in previously significant activities.
• Inability to concentrate, disturbances in thinking, memory and speech.
• Impaired coordination of movements.
• Personality changes.

Reasons for the development of the disease

The most common cause is degenerative processes in the brain. But sometimes senile melancholy occurs, for which organic changes in the brain are not characteristic.

Treatment

It is impossible to cure the disease. However, it is possible to mitigate its symptoms. The most effective medications are those that improve blood circulation and stimulate metabolism in the brain. If the patient is overly agitated or aggressive, he is prescribed benzodiazepines. In addition, psychotherapy and social therapy are very important.

We must not assume that the atrophic process in brain activity is inevitable. Mental work, a constant desire to learn new things, repetition of learned material, interest in the world around us, communication with people - all this will help to maintain mental abilities longer.

In old age, many people already suffer from some kind of illness, therefore, when visiting a doctor, it is recommended to talk to him and about your mental state.

Not every case of senile psychosis is amenable to outpatient treatment. Often the doctor has to hospitalize the patient.

Senile psychosis is a form of senile dementia. There are several main forms of senile dementia (dementia). Let's look at them in a little more detail.

Sclerosis of the cerebral arteries

The disease is characterized by the appearance of small foci of cerebral infarction. The first symptoms of the disease are a compressive headache, dizziness when flexing and extending the body, and tinnitus. Patients often doze off during the day and suffer from insomnia at night. The patient can quickly remember names and numbers, but his speech remains slurred and inconsistent. He is unable to concentrate. His mental state is deteriorating. Personality disorders occur that progress to dementia. Along with changes in the psyche, changes in internal organs are detected, characteristic of atherosclerosis, and sometimes neurological symptoms. Dementia may appear 3 months after the stroke.

Pick's disease

Premature destruction medulla observed in sick people over 40 years of age. The disease proceeds with disruption logical thinking and perception, apathy, amnesia.

Alzheimer's disease

This is a degenerative disease characterized by a progressive decline in intelligence. Appears after 50 years. The reasons are unknown. Symptoms of the disease are varied: a gradual decline in memory and attention, disruption of thinking processes and learning ability, disorientation in time and space, difficulties in communication, personality changes. Symptoms progress and lead to dementia.

Dementia caused by hydrocephalus

Characterized by dilation of the ventricles of the brain. There are disturbances in memory and thinking, apathy, seizures, which leads to dementia. Surgery can alleviate all of these symptoms. The cause is hydrocephalus of the brain.

Premature frustration

Usually people aged 40-60 years suffer. Its symptoms are a decline in vitality. exhaustion, apathy, depression. The disease is characterized by periods of exacerbations and remissions.

According to statistics, people over 65 years of age often commit suicide in a state of deep depression, which has nothing to do with pathological processes in the brain.

The symptoms of this group of diseases are of a psychotic type, which is important; a person’s intelligence can be completely preserved. Very often the disease occurs in the form of depression or delusional disorder.

Less commonly, the problem can manifest itself as anxiety, speech impairment, and confusion. Thus, partial clouding of consciousness occurs as a result of disorders in the activity of the central nervous system (central nervous system).

In medical practice, two types of development of senile psychosis are distinguished:

• acute senile syndrome, characterized by clouding of consciousness, maladjustment in society and loss of personality;
• chronic senile psychosis, which manifests itself in the form of depression, hallucinations, the state can be paraphrenic, hallucinatory-paranoid.

Causes of the disease

The etiology and pathogenesis of senile psychosis have not yet been well studied. According to statistics, women are more susceptible to this problem than men. The risk of developing the disease increases if there are already precedents of senile psychosis in the family, that is hereditary factor plays a big role.

The main reasons for the development of the disease are:

• gradual age-related death of groups of cells;
• degenerative processes in the brain;
• Various infectious diseases can affect the development of the disease;
• somatic pathologies;
• traumatic brain injuries;
• traumatic circumstances.

Pathogenesis can also be affected by:

• physical inactivity;
• sleep disorders;
• malnutrition (incorrect diet);
• problems with hearing and vision.

Clinical picture

If senile psychosis occurs as depression, this state is characterized by delusional ideas, increased anxiety, general depression of mood, suicidal tendencies, “self-destruction”.

Psychoses are characterized by disorders involving jealousy, persecution and self-harm. Thus, the main “victims” of a suffering old man can be relatives and friends, neighbors, people around him, as they can be accused of theft, causing damage to their property, etc.

Senile psychosis in its acute form is quite common; its symptoms manifest themselves mainly in people undergoing treatment for somatic and mental disorders. It is in the process of complications of these diseases that the impetus for the development of psychoses appears.

Symptoms of acute psychosis include:

• confusion;
• motor excitement;
• fussiness;
• lack of coordinated actions;
• delusional disorders;
• hallucinations (verbal, visual, tactile);
• unreasonable fears;
• anxiety.

This type of disease progression can be observed over several weeks, or can occur continuously as repeated relapses.

The development of acute psychosis can be determined by the presence of certain symptoms:

• loss of appetite;
• sleep disturbance;
• disorientation in space, which is episodic in nature;
• severe fatigue;
• helplessness;
• problems with self-care.

Further stupefaction is accompanied by amnesia. The clinical picture is fragmentary. Patients may experience physical activity, and different shapes clouding of consciousness (amentia, delirium, stunning), which occur both individually and in combination.

Chronic senile psychosis is observed mainly in elderly women. In mild forms the following may be observed:

During the course of the disease, unreasonable feelings of guilt, hypochondria, and anxiety may appear. This disease occurs with a minor manifestation of mental disorder, which over time suppresses the functions of the body.

Such sluggish depression in some cases can lead to suicide. Psychosis can develop over 10 years, with only minor memory impairment present.

Diagnostic criteria

In the early stages, it is almost impossible to determine the presence of the disease, since it has a lot of symptoms similar to other pathologies: cardiovascular vascular system, tumors and other problems.

The reason for the diagnosis is a progressive impoverishment of the psyche, leading over several years to irreversible dementia.

A visit to the doctor is mandatory if the patient has a number of factors: disorders for more than six months, leading to disturbances in social, professional, and daily activities. At the same time, the person has a completely clear consciousness, there are no mental disorders that could lead to a decrease in intelligence.

Differentiated diagnosis

Differential diagnosis helps to distinguish senile syndrome from diseases with similar symptoms, for example, schizophrenia.

Dementia is often accompanied by depressive disorders (pseudo-dementia), so differentiating the disease is quite difficult.

Set of measures

After the clinical picture has been studied and accurate diagnosis, you can begin treating the patient. With the permission of the patient's relatives, he is placed in a medical facility.

The main goal of treatment is to arrest the progression of the disease, symptomatic treatment and alleviation of these characteristic symptoms.

In case of depressive conditions, a specialist may prescribe psychotropic drugs such as Melipramine, Pyrazidol, Azafen. In some cases, drugs can be combined at a certain dose. For all other types of senile psychosis, Propazine, Sonapax, and Haloperidol are prescribed.

In each specific case, the patient is prescribed an individually selected drug and additionally medicines that correct associated symptoms.

Typically, the acute form of senile psychosis responds more successfully to treatment. A protracted disease can only be suppressed with medications, but it is impossible to completely get rid of it.

What should relatives and friends do?

To maintain the mental state of a patient diagnosed with senile psychosis, the people around him must be understanding of the current situation and understand that this process is inevitable and incurable. This disease is objective and does not depend at all on the patient himself.

In severe cases of senile psychosis, patients require special care, which is best organized in medical institution. If the patient is inactive, bedsores may appear, which can significantly worsen the health condition.

Patients who are characterized by untidiness require special care. So, relatives or medical staff(depending on the location of the patient) are required to wipe him with camphor alcohol, wash him regularly, change bed linen and prevent sleeping on a wet bed. Cleansing enemas should also be regular.

What to expect?

The most favorable prognosis is given to patients with an acute form of the disease, especially if medical care They turned in time, and consciousness was not in a state of darkness for long.

The chronic form does not entail anything good and the prognosis in this case is not comforting: the disease develops from one to ten years and the later this process begins, the better, since ultimately the disease ends with cachexia, problems with making movements and even constructing phrases and pronunciation of words.

Experts believe that if you start preventing senile psychosis at the age of 35, then in the future a person will be able to avoid a similar disease:

• the person must be physically active;
• an important factor is the development of mental abilities;
• attention to body weight;
• blood pressure control;
• cholesterol control;
• proper nutrition.

This section was created to take care of those who need a qualified specialist, without disturbing the usual rhythm of their own lives.

/ Spurs in psychiatry / Private / Vascular dementia

Vascular dementia is the so-called lacunar (partial, dysmnestic) type of dementia. This type of vascular dementia is determined by increasing disturbances in memory and selective reproduction, disturbances in chronological dating and time orientation (with relative preservation of allo- and autopsychic orientation), progressive difficulty and slowdown of all mental processes. It is accompanied by asthenia and a decrease in mental activity, difficulties in verbal communication and finding the right words, a decrease in the level of judgment and criticism with a certain preservation of the consciousness of one’s own insolvency and basic personal attitudes (the core of personality is preserved), a feeling of illness and helplessness, a reduced tearful mood, weakness and “ incontinence of affects." This type of dementia develops mainly due to atherosclerotic processes that manifest themselves between the ages of 50 and 65 years. It is most often formed gradually by intensifying psychoorganic disorders that arose in the early stages of the disease. In some patients, lacunar dementia syndrome occurs more acutely after cerebrovascular accidents (postapoplectic dementia). In such cases, dementia is preceded by a transient amnestic (Korsakoff-like) syndrome.

After acute disorders cerebral circulation (stroke, severe hypertensive crises, subarachnoid hemorrhages), and often after acute vascular psychoses, amnestic dementia syndrome with severe memory impairments such as fixation amnesia, severe disorientation and confabulations is possible. The picture of such amnestic dementia is in some cases reversible to some extent.

Another type of dementia, which occurs with vascular lesions of the brain, is called “pseudoparalytic” due to the predominance in the clinical picture of carelessness, euphoria, talkativeness, disinhibition of drives, lack of a sense of illness, a sharp decrease in criticism and level of judgment - with a relatively less pronounced memory impairment and orientation. The pseudoparalytic type of vascular dementia is usually found in patients under 65 years of age with severe hypertensive encephalopathy or with frontal localization of softening foci.

With severe hypertensive encephalopathy, sometimes there is a rare form of vascular dementia, with the workload and stunnedness of patients, adynamia and reduced motor and speech activity, pronounced difficulties in fixating, perceiving and comprehending what is happening - this form of vascular dementia is described as “pseudotumorous”. It requires especially careful differentiation from a brain tumor.

Dementia syndromes observed during the manifestation of the vascular process in old age also have certain clinical features. Due to some similarities in the clinical picture of these syndromes with senile dementia, they speak of a senile-like type of vascular dementia. As with senile dementia, initial stage This type of vascular dementia is characterized by pronounced personality changes, a gloomy or displeased or irritable mood, a distrustful and hostile attitude towards others, individual ideas of attitude and detachment. The clinical picture of dementia is determined by deeper and more diffuse memory impairments (than with dysmnestic dementia), more pronounced disorientation, and elements of “shifting the situation into the past,” and a deeper decline in all types of mental activity.

An independent clinical variant of vascular dementia is an Alzheimer-like form with focal cortical disorders caused by a special localization of the vascular process, resulting from the addition of atherosclerotic changes in blood vessels cerebral cortex to the senile-atrophic process.

Psychotic syndromes. In direct causal dependence on the vascular process (its nature, course, rate and degree of progression) are acute and subacute psychoses of the exogenous and exogenous-organic type - “arteriosclerotic states of confusion.” These psychoses are distinguished by a number of common clinical properties: 1) syndromes of altered consciousness that arise within these psychoses (exogenous types of reactions), as a rule, are atypical, rudimentary and syndromic incomplete. Manifestations of acute vascular psychoses do not always correspond to the known syndromic types of delirium, amentia, twilight states and others, which has allowed many modern psychiatrists to generally qualify them as “states of confusion”; 2) acute psychotic disorders are quite often short-term, episodic. Their duration often does not exceed several hours. They occur predominantly at night, and during the day patients may be clearly conscious and not detect psychotic disorders. Confusion at night, in particular, recurs frequently; 3) the course of acute vascular psychoses differs significantly from the course of symptomatic psychoses of other etiologies. 4) with a more protracted (subacute) course of vascular psychoses, in addition to syndromes of altered consciousness, there may be observed not accompanied by stupefaction, but also reversible syndromes, which were called transitional or intermediate. In vascular psychoses, almost all types of intermediate syndromes can occur (preceding or following syndromes of altered consciousness): neurotic and affective (asthenic, depressive, anxious-depressive), hallucinatory-paranoid (schizoform) into organic circle syndromes (adynamic, apathetic-abulic , euphoric, expansive-confabulatory, amnesic-Korsakoff-like).

Acute psychotic states are sometimes observed in the prodrome of stroke. Such post-stroke psychoses with confusion, disorientation, delirious agitation, anxiety, individual hallucinatory and delusional disorders usually turn into prolonged asthenodepressive states, but can also transform into various states dementia.

Acute psychotic episodes may occur during exacerbation of the vascular process against the background of various, even stabilized, mental changes(including dementia).

Of all the so-called endoform (protracted) vascular psychoses (as well as in atrophic processes), the most clinically justified is the identification of protracted vascular paranoid psychoses. They are most often observed in men in the form of paranoid delusions of jealousy. The plot of the delusion contains many naked sexual details. Typical storylines: cheating on a wife with young people, young family members, including a son or son-in-law. Delusions of jealousy are usually combined with ideas of damage (the wife feeds rivals better, gives them the patient’s things), a tearfully depressed mood with outbursts of irritability, anger, and aggressiveness.

There is also no doubt that chronic verbal hallucinosis is classified as vascular psychosis. Chronic vascular hallucinosis is defined by polyvocal true verbal hallucinosis. It flows in waves, often at the height of development it becomes scenic (scenes of public condemnation of the patient), usually intensifies in the evening and night hours and has a predominantly threatening content.

TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND ORGANIZATION OF CARE FOR PATIENTS. The main focus should be on the treatment of the underlying vascular disease and the hemodynamic disorders caused by it. Psychotropic drugs are prescribed for general indications, with maximum caution. Preferably drugs with moderate or even relatively weak neuroleptic activity are administered (aminazine, usually no more than 50-75 mg/day, thioridazine - Melleril). Small doses of haloperidol (for hallucinosis), tizercin (for anxiety-delusional states) are used. Particular care should be taken when handling combined use psychotropic drugs. Such combinations are indicated only for short-term use to reduce anxiety and agitation (for example, in the form of a combination of 25-50 mg/day amitriptyline and 20-25 mg melleril or aminazine). A combination of antidepressants or neuroleptics with weak neuroleptic activity and small doses of tranquilizers (seduxen, tazepam) is advisable. In case of pronounced anxiety agitation and vital fear, intravenous drip administration of seduxen is effective. With vascular inferiority of the brain, there is an increased risk of developing side effects of psychotropic drugs - cardiovascular disorders and early appearance neuroleptic. Amitriptyline, which is preferable for anxiety and depression due to its sedative effect, is prescribed in doses not exceeding 50-75 mg/day. The use of pyrazidol is recommended.

In the early stages of the development of vascular mental changes, general restoratives and thoughtful regulation of the regimen are indicated. In some cases, a course of treatment with aminalon (Gammalon), piracetam (Nootropil) or Cerebrolysin is useful.

It is also necessary, if possible, to eliminate all hazards that can negatively affect the course of vascular diseases.

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Dementia (dementia): signs, treatment, causes of senile, vascular

As a person ages, failures begin to occur in all systems and organs. There are also deviations in mental activity, which are divided into behavioral, emotional and cognitive. The latter includes dementia (or dementia), although it has close connection with other disorders. Simply put, in a patient with dementia, due to mental disorders, behavior changes, causeless depression appears, emotionality decreases, and the person begins to gradually degrade.

Dementia usually develops in older people. It affects several psychological processes: speech, memory, thinking, attention. Already at the initial stage of vascular dementia, the resulting disorders are quite significant, which affects the patient’s quality of life. He forgets already acquired skills, and learning new skills becomes impossible. Such patients have to leave their professional career, and they simply cannot do without the constant supervision of family members.

General characteristics of the disease

Acquired cognitive impairments that negatively affect a patient's daily activities and behavior are called dementia.

The disease can have several degrees of severity depending on the social adaptation of the patient:

1. Mild degree of dementia - the patient experiences a degradation of professional skills, his social activity decreases, and interest in favorite activities and entertainment weakens significantly. At the same time, the patient does not lose orientation in the surrounding space and can take care of himself independently.
2. Moderate (average) degree of dementia - characterized by the impossibility of leaving the patient unattended, since he loses the ability to use most household appliances. Sometimes it is difficult for a person to open the lock on the front door on his own. This degree of severity is often colloquially referred to as “senile insanity.” The patient requires constant help in everyday life, but he can cope with self-care and personal hygiene without outside help.
3. Severe degree - the patient has complete disadaptation to the environment and personality degradation. He can no longer cope without the help of his loved ones: he needs to be fed, washed, dressed, etc.

There can be two forms of dementia: total and lacunar (dysmnestic or partial). The latter is characterized by serious deviations in the process of short-term memory, while emotional changes are not particularly pronounced (excessive sensitivity and tearfulness). A typical variant of lacunar dementia can be considered Alzheimer's disease in the early stages.

The form of total dementia is characterized by absolute personal degradation. The patient is exposed to intellectual and cognitive disorders, the emotional-volitional sphere of life changes radically (there is no sense of shame, duty, vital interests and spiritual values ​​disappear).

From a medical point of view, there is the following classification of types of dementia:

• Dementia of the atrophic type (Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease) usually occurs against the background of primary degenerative reactions occurring in the cells of the central nervous system.
• Vascular dementia (atherosclerosis, hypertension) - develops due to circulatory pathologies in the cerebral vascular system.
• Dementia mixed type– the mechanism of their development is similar to both atrophic and vascular dementias.

Dementia often develops due to pathologies leading to the death or degeneration of brain cells (as an independent disease), and can also manifest itself as severe complication diseases. In addition, conditions such as skull trauma, brain tumors, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis etc.

For all dementias, such signs as emotional-volitional (tearfulness, apathy, causeless aggression, etc.) and intellectual (thinking, speech, attention) disorders, up to personal disintegration, are relevant.

Vascular dementia

Cerebrovascular accident in vascular dementia

This type of disease is associated with impaired cognitive function due to abnormal blood flow in the brain. Vascular dementia is characterized by long-term development of pathological processes. The patient practically does not notice that he is developing brain dementia. Due to disturbances in blood flow, certain brain centers begin to experience oxygen starvation, which causes the death of brain cells. A large number of such cells leads to brain dysfunction, which manifests itself as dementia.

Causes

Stroke is one of the root causes of vascular dementia. Both rupture and thrombosis of blood vessels, which characterize a stroke, deprive brain cells of proper nutrition, which leads to their death. Therefore, stroke patients are at particularly high risk of developing dementia.

Hypotension can also trigger dementia. Due to low blood pressure, the volume of blood circulating through the vessels of the brain decreases (hyperfusion), which subsequently leads to dementia.

In addition, dementia can also be caused by atherosclerosis, hypertension, ischemia, arrhythmia, diabetes, heart defects, infectious and autoimmune vasculitis, etc.

As mentioned above, often the cause of such dementia can be cerebral atherosclerosis. As a result, the so-called atherosclerotic dementia gradually develops, which is characterized by a partial stage of dementia - when the patient is able to realize that he is experiencing impairments in cognitive activity. This dementia differs from other dementias in the stepwise progression of the clinical picture, when episodic improvements and deteriorations in the patient’s condition periodically replace each other. Atherosclerotic dementia is also characterized by fainting, dizziness, speech and visual abnormalities, and slow psychomotor skills.

Signs

Typically, a doctor diagnoses vascular dementia when disruptions in cognitive function begin to appear after a heart attack or stroke. A harbinger of the development of dementia is also considered to be weakening of attention. Patients complain that they cannot concentrate on a specific object or concentrate. Characteristic symptoms Dementia is considered to be changes in gait (mincing, wobbly, “skiing”, unsteady gait), voice timbre and articulation. Swallowing dysfunction is less common.

Intellectual processes begin to work in slow motion - also an alarming signal. Even at the beginning of the disease, the patient experiences some difficulties in organizing his activities and analyzing the information received. In the process of diagnosing dementia in the initial stages, the patient is given a special test for dementia. With its help, they check how quickly the subject copes with specific tasks.

By the way, when vascular type dementia, memory deviations are not particularly pronounced, which cannot be said about emotional sphere activities. According to statistics, about a third of patients with vascular dementia are depressed. All patients are subject to frequent mood swings. They can laugh until they cry, and suddenly suddenly begin to cry bitterly. Patients often suffer from hallucinations, epileptic seizures, show apathy towards the world around them, and prefer sleep to wakefulness. In addition to the above, symptoms of vascular dementia include impoverishment of gestures and facial movements, i.e., motor activity is impaired. Patients experience urinary disturbances. Characteristic feature a patient suffering from dementia is also sloppiness.

Treatment

There is no standard, template method for treating dementia. Each case is considered by a specialist separately. It's connected with a huge amount pathogenetic mechanisms, preceding the disease. It should be noted that dementia is completely incurable, so the disorders caused by the disease are irreversible.

Treatment of vascular dementia, and other types of dementia too, is carried out with the help of neuroprotectors that provide positive impact on brain tissue, improving their metabolism. Also, dementia therapy involves treating directly the diseases that led to its development.

Calcium antagonists (Cerebrolysin) and nootropic drugs are used to improve cognitive processes. If the patient is subject to severe forms of depression, then, along with the main treatment of dementia, he is prescribed antidepressants. To prevent cerebral infarctions, antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants are prescribed.

Do not forget about the prevention of vascular and heart diseases: quit smoking and alcohol, fatty and too salty foods, you should move more. Life expectancy with advanced vascular dementia is about 5 years.

It should be noted that people with dementia often develop such an unpleasant trait as sloppiness, so relatives need to provide proper care for the patient. If household members cannot cope with this, then you can resort to the services of a professional nurse. This, as well as other common questions related to the disease, is worth discussing with those who have already encountered similar problems on a forum dedicated to vascular dementia.

Video: vascular dementia in the program “Live Healthy!”

Senile (senile) dementia

Many, observing elderly household members, often notice changes in their condition associated with character, intolerance and forgetfulness. From somewhere an irresistible stubbornness appears, and it becomes impossible to convince such people of anything. This is due to brain atrophy due to the large-scale death of brain cells due to age, i.e., senile dementia begins to develop.

Signs

First, an elderly person begins to experience minor deviations in memory - the patient forgets recent events, but remembers what happened in his youth. As the disease progresses, old fragments begin to disappear from memory. In senile dementia, there are two possible mechanisms for the development of the disease, depending on the presence of certain symptoms.

Most elderly people with senile dementia have virtually no psychotic states, which makes life much easier for both the patient and his relatives, since the patient does not cause much trouble.

But there are also frequent cases of psychosis accompanied by insomnia or sleep inversion. This category of patients is characterized by such signs of senile dementia as hallucinations, excessive suspicion, mood swings from tearful tenderness to righteous anger, i.e. A global form of the disease is developing. Psychosis can be triggered by changes in blood pressure (hypotension, hypertension), changes in blood sugar levels (diabetes), etc. Therefore, it is important to protect elderly people with dementia from all kinds of chronic and viral diseases.

Treatment

Health care providers do not recommend treating dementia at home, regardless of the severity and type of disease. Today there are many boarding houses and sanatoriums, the main focus of which is the maintenance of just such patients, where, in addition to proper care, treatment of the disease will be carried out. The issue is certainly controversial, since in the comfort of home it is much easier for the patient to endure dementia.

Treatment of senile type dementia begins with traditional psychostimulant drugs based on both synthetic and herbal ingredients. In general, their effect is manifested in increasing the ability of the patient’s nervous system to adapt to the resulting physical and mental stress.

Nootropic drugs are used as mandatory drugs for the treatment of dementia of any type, which significantly improve cognitive abilities and have a restorative effect on memory. In addition, modern drug therapy often uses tranquilizers to relieve anxiety and fear.

Since the onset of the disease is associated with serious memory impairment, you can use some folk remedies. For example, blueberry juice has a positive effect on all processes related to memory. There are many herbs that have a calming and hypnotic effect.

Video: Cognitive training for people with dementia

Alzheimer's type dementia

This is perhaps the most common type of dementia today. It refers to organic dementia(a group of dementive syndromes that develop against the background of organic changes in the brain, such as cerebrovascular diseases, traumatic brain injuries, senile or syphilitic psychoses). In addition, this disease is quite closely intertwined with types of dementia with Lewy bodies (a syndrome in which the death of brain cells occurs due to Lewy bodies formed in neurons), having many common symptoms. Often even doctors confuse these pathologies.

Pathological process in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's type dementia

The most significant factors provoking the development of dementia:

1. Old age (75-80 years);
2. Female;
3. Hereditary factor (presence of a blood relative suffering from Alzheimer's disease);
4. Arterial hypertension;
5. Diabetes;
6. Atherosclerosis;
7. Excess of lipids in plasma;
8. Obesity;
9. Diseases associated with chronic hypoxia.

The symptoms of Alzheimer's type dementia are generally identical to those of vascular and senile dementia. These are memory impairments; first, recent events are forgotten, and then facts from life in the distant past. As the disease progresses, emotional and volitional disturbances appear: conflict, grumpiness, egocentrism, suspicion (senile personality restructuring). Untidyness is also present among the many symptoms of dementia syndrome.

Then the patient develops delusions of “damage,” when he begins to blame others for stealing something from him or wanting to kill him, etc. The patient develops a craving for gluttony and vagrancy. At the severe stage, the patient is consumed by complete apathy, he practically does not walk, does not talk, does not feel thirst or hunger.

Since this dementia refers to total dementia, the treatment is complex, covering the treatment of concomitant pathologies. This type of dementia is classified as progressive, it leads to disability and then death of the patient. As a rule, no more than a decade passes from the onset of the disease to death.

Video: how to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease?

Epileptic dementia

Enough rare disease, which usually occurs against the background of epilepsy or schizophrenia. For him, the typical picture is a paucity of interests; the patient cannot highlight the main essence or generalize something. Often, epileptic dementia in schizophrenia is characterized by excessive sweetness, the patient constantly expresses himself in diminutive words, vindictiveness, hypocrisy, vindictiveness and ostentatious fear of God appear.

Alcoholic dementia

This type of dementia syndrome is formed due to long-term alcohol-toxic effects on the brain (over 1.5-2 decades). In addition, factors such as liver lesions and disorders of the vascular system play an important role in the development mechanism. According to research, on last stage alcoholism, the patient experiences pathological changes in the brain area that are atrophic in nature, which outwardly manifests itself as personality degradation. Alcoholic dementia may regress if complete refusal sick from alcoholic drinks.

Frontotemporal dementia

This presenile dementia, often called Pick's disease, involves the presence of degenerative abnormalities that affect the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. In half of cases, frontotemporal dementia develops due to a genetic factor. The onset of the disease is characterized by emotional and behavioral changes: passivity and isolation from society, silence and apathy, disregard for decency and sexual promiscuity, bulimia and urinary incontinence.

Drugs such as Memantine (Akatinol) have proven effective in the treatment of such dementia. Such patients live no more than ten years, dying from immobility or the parallel development of genitourinary and pulmonary infections.

Dementia in children

We looked at types of dementia that exclusively affect the adult population. But there are pathologies that develop mainly in children (Lafora disease, Niemann-Pick disease, etc.).

Childhood dementias are conventionally divided into:

• Progressive dementia is a self-developing pathology that belongs to the category of genetic degenerative defects, vascular lesions and diseases of the central nervous system.
• Residual organic dementia - the development of which is caused by traumatic brain injury, meningitis, and drug poisoning.

Dementia in children may be a sign of a certain mental pathology, for example, schizophrenia or mental retardation. Symptoms appear early: the child suddenly loses the ability to remember anything, and his mental abilities decrease.

Therapy for childhood dementia is based on curing the disease that triggered the onset of dementia, as well as general flow pathology. In any case, dementia is treated with medications that improve cerebral blood flow and cellular metabolism.

With any type of dementia, loved ones, relatives and household members should treat the patient with understanding. After all, it’s not his fault that he sometimes does inappropriate things, it’s the illness that does it. We ourselves should think about preventive measures so that the disease does not affect us in the future. To do this, you should move more, communicate, read, and engage in self-education. Walks before bedtime and active rest, refusal bad habits- this is the key to old age without dementia.

Video: dementia syndrome

Hello, my grandmother is 82 years old, all the signs of dementia are on her face, anxiety, she forgets that she ate after half an hour, she always tries to get up and walk somewhere, although her legs no longer obey her and she simply crawls out of bed, she can no longer take care of herself, Her son is with her for 24 hours, but her nerves also give in, because there is no peace, especially at night, she doesn’t let her sleep at all, she asks her to drink, then to go to the toilet, and so on all night. The medications prescribed by doctors are of no use, sedatives do not work. Can you recommend something that will help both her and us rest at least at night? Are there sedatives for such patients? I will be glad to hear your answer.

Hello! Dementia is a serious condition that has no cure, and most medications are in fact ineffective. We cannot recommend any medications over the Internet; it is better for you to contact a psychiatrist or neurologist for this. Perhaps the doctor will prescribe something stronger than what has already been prescribed, although there is still no guarantee that the grandmother will become calmer. Unfortunately, such patients are a difficult test for relatives, and medicine is often powerless, so you and your family can only have patience and courage in caring for your sick grandmother.

Hello. My mother-in-law, 63 years old, was diagnosed with atherosclerosis, stage II DEP. Previously, we lived more or less normally. Her husband argued with her because of her character traits, but this was not so often. Now it has become completely impossible to live with her. She drinks expired milk, hides cans pickles next to her bed, they grow moldy, she continues to eat them. The apartment is dirty. She almost never washes her bed linen; she puts her dirty clothes in clumps in a pile and doesn’t wash them. In her room there are moldy cans, smelly things smell of sweat and sourness. Instead of throwing away every broken thing, he keeps it, even pens worth 5-10 rubles without refills. Speaks for others. This is expressed in the words “Yes, he didn’t want to do this,” dragging food home that still has a day or two of expiration date. When we throw out expired soaps, creams, and perfumes into the trash, she pulls them out of the trash and takes them back to her room. Recently it got to the point where she takes the discarded milk out of the trash and puts it in the refrigerator. She cannot prepare food for herself. He lies in his room all day, does nothing and doesn’t want to. Complete apathy towards the world around you and towards yourself. She says that she feels bad and needs to go to the doctors. 1-2 days pass, and she already believes that there is no need to go to the doctors. He speaks for the doctor who made the diagnoses, that he said that there was nothing wrong with her. Although she has changes in the tissues of the liver and kidneys. When I talked to the doctor, he said that she was doing poorly. She eats what she shouldn't. Butter, bread, marinades and fermented milk, meat products, margarine, coffee, smokes. We tell her that she can’t eat this, and in response we hear: “Well, I’m just a little bit.” Without thinking about her actions, she collected loans for a huge amount. Constantly screams about the lack of money, although there is some. She constantly lies, day after day, says one thing, and literally an hour later she says that she didn’t say anything like that. If earlier she could hear movies on her laptop perfectly well, now movies and TV series are screaming throughout the entire apartment. He screams a little, periodically shows aggression and bulges his eyes. He cannot step on his feet normally in the morning and towards night. He oohs and ahhs and steps heavily on them. He takes a dish sponge and washes the floor with it. I recently washed the entire apartment with a rag that was in cat urine. And she denied the suffocating smell of urine! She doesn't smell anything at all, even when you put it right in her nose. Denies any facts! What to do? Can this person be deprived of legal capacity? Otherwise, we will have problems with her loans. Became secretive, goes somewhere. He says he’s going to work, but goes along a different road. The sick people themselves. My husband has meningococcemia, he has stage 1 DEP and SPA. I have a pituitary tumor. It's impossible to live like that. We have scandals all day long...

Hello! We sincerely sympathize with you, your family is very difficult situation. You describe quite typical behavior for patients with severe DEP; you probably yourself understand that the mother-in-law is not aware of her actions and words, because she is sick, and it is really very difficult with such a family member. You can try to recognize her as incompetent, contact a neurologist or psychiatrist, explain the situation. If the doctor writes an appropriate conclusion, then it will certainly be easier to avoid problems with loans, mother-in-law’s appeals to various authorities, etc., because such patients can be extremely active in their initiatives. Aggression, deceit, and sloppiness are symptoms that are very unpleasant and irritating to others, but nevertheless associated with the disease, and not with the mother-in-law’s desire to ruin your life. It is difficult to give advice on communicating with a sick person, not everyone has the nerves and patience, and if you break down and make trouble, then this is a completely natural phenomenon in the current situation. Unfortunately, encephalopathy of such severity is not treated or cured; the outcome, as a rule, is dementia. On the one hand, contact will become completely impossible, you will need care, like caring for a small child, on the other hand, your life will become easier to some extent, since the mother-in-law’s activity will gradually decrease and it will become easier to control the situation. Try to get the maximum from the doctor in order to somehow protect your family and mother-in-law from her inappropriate actions, and we wish you courage and patience.

Hello! Perhaps you should look not only for a competent neurologist or psychiatrist, but also a lawyer, because a person who is potentially incapacitated due to mental health cannot account for his actions and, therefore, should not give consent to an examination, which should be carried out according to medical indications and with the consent of relatives. A neurologist, therapist or psychiatrist must prescribe drug therapy based on the underlying disease; a sick person cannot be left without treatment, which he is entitled to by law. We wish you a speedy resolution to this difficult situation.

Hello! Vascular dementia begins long before obvious symptoms negative symptoms with minor changes, you are absolutely right that the process began many years ago. Unfortunately, the first signs are non-specific and it can be problematic to distinguish them from the symptoms of other diseases and to distinguish them from many other age-related changes. On the other hand, it is not at all necessary that other family members will be affected by significant mental and behavioral changes, because everything is individual, depending on the character of the person and the degree of brain damage. Most elderly people have certain signs of vascular encephalopathy, but for many it is limited to a decrease in memory and intellectual performance, while their character and behavior remain quite adequate. Rescue from cerebral vascular damage - healthy image life, proper nutrition, providing the brain with work until old age. It is no secret that solving crossword puzzles, solving interesting mathematical problems, reading books and other literature trains the brain, helps it adapt to conditions of imperfect blood flow and cope with the progression of age-related changes. And it is absolutely not necessary that a disease like your grandmother’s will overtake everyone else; you are too pessimistic. If other elderly family members already have signs of brain aging, then the listed measures plus taking vascular medications, vitamins, and regular doctor's examinations will help slow down the development of dementia. We wish your family health and patience in caring for your grandmother!

Good afternoon. It doesn't sound rude. It's hard for you. We have the same situation. Grandmother, dearest and kindest person has turned into an aggressive and angry person (fights, throws fists and wants us all to die), we understand that this is not her fault, she did not ask for such a pain. But it is what it is. We get out of the situation in this way: my grandmother went to a neurologist for an appointment - she was prescribed antidepressants and once a month she went to a paid boarding house for a week. For us this is a week of rest. Relatives of such people need to rest, because it is not uncommon for those caring for such patients to die (due to moral burnout and nervous stress) faster than the patients themselves. Strength and patience to you.

It is useful to know that this group of diseases affects mental health those over 60 years old. With psychoses of this type, total dementia never develops, which cannot be said about senile dementia.

There are acute forms of psychoses that manifest themselves in old age, which make themselves felt by a state of stupefaction. There are also chronic ones, which manifest themselves in the form of hallucinatory, depressive and other conditions.

Acute forms of psychosis are most often observed.

The cause of these psychoses is most often chronic, acute diseases of the human respiratory tract, hypovitaminosis, heart failure, and diseases of the genitourinary system. It is possible that a mental illness associated with sleep disturbances, physical inactivity, decreased hearing or vision, or lack of adequate nutrition may occur.

It is often difficult to determine somatic disease in the elderly, as a result of which the mortality rate of this group of patients reaches 55%.

Main symptoms

Let's talk in more detail about how senile insanity manifests itself and what needs to be done if one of your loved ones gets sick with it.

In acute forms, psychosis is accompanied by the following symptoms:

1. It is difficult for the patient to navigate the environment.
2. Helplessness arises when he tries to serve himself.
3. Fatigue appears quickly.
4. There is no previous appetite.
5. There is a sleep disorder.
6. The patient is in delirious. Statements associated with ideas of damage, fear, and confusion often predominate.
7. The duration of psychosis ranges from several days to three weeks.
8. Mental illness occurs either continuously or in the form of exacerbations that are repeated repeatedly.
9. During a short-term recovery, the patient suffers from adynamic asthenia.

In chronic forms of psychosis, the following symptoms appear:

1. Lethargy.
2. The patient often complains of a feeling of emptiness. The present has no prospects for him. Sometimes he may feel disgusted with life.
3. Psychosis is accompanied by minor depressions, supported by several complaints about the state of mind.
4. The patient's behavior is supported by delusional statements with accusations against him.

The disease lasts for many years. Minor memory disturbances are noted.

It is important to know that senile psychosis is diagnosed by a specialist based on the clinical picture, and treatment is carried out taking into account the physical condition of the sick person. Usually prescribed psychotropic drug. The medications are taken under the strict supervision of the attending physician.

If you suspect that your loved one has any symptoms related to senile insanity, but doubt that you are right, immediately consult a doctor for advice.

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Senile psychosis

Quite often, mental disorders are observed in older people. This is due to the natural aging process, which causes the functional state of the brain to deteriorate over time.

Along with others mental illness Elderly people often exhibit presenile and senile psychoses. They are a consequence of the death of brain cells that can occur with age. Unfortunately, senile psychosis cannot be completely cured. But at the same time, it is not recommended to refuse treatment for senile psychosis altogether - it helps to weaken the symptoms of the disease and reduces the risk of patients causing harm to themselves and others. The likelihood of symptoms of psychosis depends on the person's age - as a rule, people aged 60 years and older are at risk.

As people get older, they develop mainly presenile psychosis, which is also called involutional psychosis.

Senile psychosis usually occurs after 65 years of age and manifests itself in the forms of depressive and paranoid disorders. Its symptoms depend on the form of manifestation.

The main cause of psychosis in the elderly is brain atrophy, but there are also specific factors influencing the development of the disease.

Causes of senile psychosis

• hormonal changes (menopause);
• somatic diseases (acute, chronic diseases respiratory system, heart and blood vessels);
• psychosomatic disorders associated with sleep and eating disorders;
• strong feelings about one’s own aging, often – senile depression.

The manifestation of psychosis in older people may indicate the development of dementia, Pick's disease or Alzheimer's disease.

Symptoms of senile psychosis

• increased anxiety and depression;
• attacks of excessive suspiciousness (hypochondria);
• depressed mood, melancholy;
• the appearance of various forms of delusions, as well as hallucinations;
• lethargy or, conversely, overexcitation (agitated depression);
• attacks of confusion;
• decreased intelligence;
• increased suggestibility, stereotypical thinking.

In this case, psychosis gradually progresses and leads to a complete breakdown of the mental functions of the brain, that is, dementia.

Treatment of senile psychosis

As we said earlier, senile psychosis cannot be completely cured. Treatment of senile psychosis in older people does not have a specific method, but a properly selected set of therapeutic measures and regular care can alleviate the patient’s condition.

The consequences of progressive senile psychosis are such that an elderly person does not accept changes in his life at all, so you should not insist on placing such a person in a hospital. In this case, the most correct decision would be to call a psychiatrist at home, especially if the patient behaves aggressively, suffers from hallucinations or delusions.

What can a psychiatrist called to your home do?

First of all, he can determine a treatment regimen and give relatives the necessary recommendations related to the specifics of care and ensuring the safety of the patient and others. Treatment of psychosis is complex and includes the prescription of medications, as well as cognitive rehabilitation, which helps strengthen memory, attention and thinking and slows the progression of the disease.

Types of senile psychosis, symptoms and help for various forms of the disease

Senile psychosis (synonyms: senile dementia, senile psychosis, senile dementia, senile dementia, senile dementia) is the general name for cognitive disorders in the elderly, accompanied by the loss of skills acquired during life, a decrease in mental and intellectual activity, due to age-related atrophic damage to the brain parenchyma responsible for or other type of human activity.

Regardless of the wide range of abilities and opportunities lost by a person, the basis of senile psychosis is always memory loss, which develops against the background genetic predisposition to this pathology. Atrophic lesions in the brain are located in certain, localized areas, which causes different manifestations of the symptoms of some diseases that have similar symptoms to senile dementia, but manifest themselves at an earlier age: Pick’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Based on this, the symptoms of senile psychosis and its treatment are often identified with these diseases.

Pick's disease

Pick's disease is much less common than other brain diseases of atrophic etiology, but is characterized by a more malignant, progressive course, which relatively quickly leads to complete disintegration of the personality. One of the synonyms for the disease is “lobar sclerosis,” which is caused by atrophic destruction of the cerebral cortex in the area of ​​the frontal and temporal lobes.

Another characteristic sign of the disease is the age at which progressive changes are activated - years, and subsequent life expectancy does not exceed 6, less often - 8 years.

The basis of the symptoms of Pick's disease are signs of senile dementia, disturbances in speech and logic of thinking, and signs of extrapyramidal disorders often appear - uncontrolled spontaneous movements of skeletal muscles. Patients are characterized by a rude attitude towards others, foul language, and a lack of ethical behavior in society.

Alzheimer's disease

The most common disease with symptoms of senile dementia, affecting the parietal, temporal lobes of the brain and the cingulate gyrus. Alzheimer's disease is discovered, on average, at the age of 65 years, but science knows of rare cases of more than early illness. The disease has a strong tendency towards population spread - by 2050, about 100 million people are expected to become ill in the world, although today there are no more than 30 million.

The initial symptoms of the disease are characterized by individual differences associated with the characteristics of the person’s environment and his life experience. However, regardless of the specifics of the symptoms, they are united by a consistent disorder and loss of short-term memory, which loved ones mistakenly associate with temporary stress factors. More accurate behavior analysis, cognitive tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results can accurately diagnose a patient's Alzheimer's disease.

At subsequent stages of the disease, loss of long-term memory occurs, along with a decrease and subsequent loss of body functions, which leads to death, on average, 7-9 years after diagnosis.

Symptoms and course of senile psychosis

Senile dementia, as mentioned above, can be separate disease or be one of the symptoms or stages of other diseases occurring in an earlier age period. The disease occurs in older patients and is caused by several forms:

• The simple form is characterized by a sharpening of the boundaries of individual character traits: thriftiness turns into greed, perseverance into stubbornness and harmfulness, accuracy into excessive scrupulosity and pedantry, pedagogical inclinations into despotism, and some, especially humane, traits can completely disappear from personal behavior. A radical change in personality traits to the opposite symbolizes a more severe course of a simple form of senile dementia.

Patients are characterized by fixation on their own person, a tendency to egocentrism and callousness, overeating, excessive monitoring of their physiological needs, development of indifference to loved ones, lack of tact and similar changes.

In addition, characteristic signs for a simple form of senile dementia are: rejection of everything new, irritation over trifles, turning into aggression and malice, childish capriciousness. Patients are often prone to vagrancy, chronic alcoholism, collecting garbage and absolutely useless things. There is often a delusion of material or financial damage on the part of people who are closest to the patient;

Senile dementia must be differentiated from vascular dementia, postoperative psychosis in the elderly and other types of dementia where memory impairment occurs due to any external etiological factors.

Help with senile psychosis

It is worth noting that atrophic lesions nerve cells are an irreversible and stable process, therefore there are no cure methods for senile dementia. All medications and psychotherapy are aimed at supporting the patient and providing some relief from the symptoms of the disease.

Psychosocial intervention in the patient’s life makes some positive adjustments during the course of the disease:

• Behavioral intervention aims to focus the patient's attention on the incorrectness and illogicality of his behavior and possible complications as a result;
• Emotional intervention - treatment with memories and simulation of presence. Psychotherapy is based on the influence of positive subjective memories that evoke a positive mood in the patient, which helps reduce anxiety levels and stabilize behavior;
• Cognitive intervention is based on forced orientation of the patient in time and space, as well as stimulation of cognitive abilities - games that require mental stress, solving theoretical problems and puzzles;
• Stimulating intervention with art therapy, listening to music, contact with pets.

Caring for a patient with senile dementia, especially in the last stages of its course, is very difficult work emotionally and physically, which is aggravated by the consistent loss of self-care skills in the patient. But, in spite of everything, it is necessary to create such a favorable emotional environment for the patient that will not provoke an increase in the symptoms of the disease.

Senile psychosis: the path from decreased intelligence to delirium and dementia

Senile psychosis is a group of diseases of a mental nature that usually develop in people aged about 60 years.

These disorders are characterized by a loss to varying degrees of intellectual abilities, skills acquired throughout life, and a decrease in mental activity.

The symptoms of this group of diseases are of a psychotic type, which is important; a person’s intelligence can be completely preserved. Very often the disease occurs in the form of depression or delusional disorder.

Less commonly, the problem can manifest itself as anxiety, speech impairment, and confusion. Thus, partial clouding of consciousness occurs as a result of disorders in the activity of the central nervous system (CNS).

In medical practice, two types of development of senile psychosis are distinguished:

• acute senile syndrome, characterized by clouding of consciousness, maladjustment in society and loss of personality;
• chronic senile psychosis, which manifests itself in the form of depression, hallucinations, the state can be paraphrenic, hallucinatory-paranoid.

Causes of the disease

The etiology and pathogenesis of senile psychosis have not yet been well studied. According to statistics, women are more susceptible to this problem than men. The risk of developing the disease increases if there are already precedents of senile psychosis in the family, that is, the hereditary factor plays a large role.

The main reasons for the development of the disease are:

• gradual age-related death of groups of cells;
• degenerative processes in the brain;
• Various infectious diseases can affect the development of the disease;
• somatic pathologies;
• traumatic brain injuries;
• traumatic circumstances.

Pathogenesis can also be affected by:

• physical inactivity;
• sleep disorders;
• malnutrition (incorrect diet);
• problems with hearing and vision.

Clinical picture

If senile psychosis occurs as depression, this condition is characterized by delusional ideas, increased anxiety, general depression of mood, suicidal tendencies, and “self-destruction.”

Psychoses are characterized by disorders involving jealousy, persecution and self-harm. Thus, the main “victims” of a suffering old man can be relatives and friends, neighbors, people around him, as they can be accused of theft, causing damage to their property, etc.

Senile psychosis in its acute form is quite common; its symptoms manifest themselves mainly in people undergoing treatment for somatic and mental disorders. It is in the process of complications of these diseases that the impetus for the development of psychoses appears.

Symptoms of acute psychosis include:

• confusion;
• motor excitement;
• fussiness;
• lack of coordinated actions;
• delusional disorders;
• hallucinations (verbal, visual, tactile);
• unreasonable fears;
• anxiety.

This type of disease progression can be observed over several weeks, or can occur continuously as repeated relapses.

The development of acute psychosis can be determined by the presence of certain symptoms:

• loss of appetite;
• sleep disturbance;
• disorientation in space, which is episodic in nature;
• severe fatigue;
• helplessness;
• problems with self-care.

Further stupefaction is accompanied by amnesia. The clinical picture is fragmentary. Patients may experience motor activity, as well as various forms of clouding of consciousness (amentia, delirium, stupor), which occur both individually and in combination.

Chronic senile psychosis is observed mainly in elderly women. In mild forms the following may be observed:

During the course of the disease, unreasonable feelings of guilt, hypochondria, and anxiety may appear. This disease occurs with a minor manifestation of mental disorder, which over time suppresses the functions of the body.

Such sluggish depression in some cases can lead to suicide. Psychosis can develop over 10 years, with only minor memory impairment present.

Diagnostic criteria

In the early stages, it is almost impossible to determine the presence of the disease, since it has a lot of symptoms similar to other pathologies: the cardiovascular system, tumors and other problems.

The reason for the diagnosis is a progressive impoverishment of the psyche, leading over several years to irreversible dementia.

A visit to the doctor is mandatory if the patient has a number of factors: disorders for more than six months, leading to disturbances in social, professional, and daily activities. At the same time, the person has a completely clear consciousness, there are no mental disorders that could lead to a decrease in intelligence.

Differentiated diagnosis

Differential diagnosis helps to distinguish senile syndrome from diseases with similar symptoms, for example, schizophrenia.

Dementia is often accompanied by depressive disorders (pseudo-dementia), so differentiating the disease is quite difficult.

Set of measures

Once the clinical picture has been studied and an accurate diagnosis has been made, treatment of the patient can begin. With the permission of the patient's relatives, he is placed in a medical facility.

The main goal of treatment is to arrest the progression of the disease, symptomatic treatment and alleviation of these characteristic symptoms.

In case of depressive conditions, a specialist may prescribe psychotropic drugs such as Melipramine, Pyrazidol, Azafen. In some cases, drugs can be combined at a certain dose. For all other types of senile psychosis, Propazine, Sonapax, and Haloperidol are prescribed.

In each specific case, the patient is prescribed an individually selected drug and additional medications that correct the accompanying symptoms.

Typically, the acute form of senile psychosis responds more successfully to treatment. A protracted disease can only be suppressed with medications, but it is impossible to completely get rid of it.

What should relatives and friends do?

To maintain the mental state of a patient diagnosed with senile psychosis, the people around him must be understanding of the current situation and understand that this process is inevitable and incurable. This disease is objective and does not depend at all on the patient himself.

In severe cases of senile psychosis, patients require special care, which is best organized in a medical facility. If the patient is inactive, bedsores may appear, which can significantly worsen the health condition.

Patients who are characterized by untidiness require special care. Thus, relatives or medical personnel (depending on the location of the patient) are required to wipe him with camphor alcohol, wash him regularly, change bed linen and prevent sleeping on a wet bed. Cleansing enemas should also be regular.

What to expect?

The most favorable prognosis is given to patients with an acute form of the disease, especially if medical help was sought on time and consciousness was not in a state of confusion for long.

The chronic form does not entail anything good and the prognosis in this case is not comforting: the disease develops from one to ten years and the later this process begins, the better, since ultimately the disease ends with cachexia, problems with making movements and even constructing phrases and pronunciation of words.

Experts believe that if you start preventing senile psychosis at the age of 35, then in the future a person will be able to avoid a similar disease:

This section was created to take care of those who need a qualified specialist, without disturbing the usual rhythm of their own lives.

Senile psychosis is a collective term that includes a group of mental disorders that occur in people over 60 years of age. It is accompanied by confusion and conditions such as schizophrenia, and also in books they write that senile psychosis and senile dementia are one and the same thing. But this assumption is wrong. Senile psychosis provokes dementia, but it will not be complete. In addition, the main signs of the disease resemble Although the mind often remains normal.

Causes

The main reason why senile psychosis appears is the gradual destruction of brain cells. But the reason does not lie only in old age, since not everyone experiences it. Sometimes genetics are involved. It was noticed that if there were cases of a similar disease in your family, then it is quite possible that you will also have it.

Senile psychosis has 2 forms. The first is acute, the second is chronic. How are they characterized? The acute form is accompanied by clouding of the mind, and the chronic form is accompanied by paranoid, depressive, hallucinatory and paraphrenic psychoses. No matter how old you are, treatment is mandatory for everyone.

Causes of senile psychoses

Let's look at them in more detail than mentioned above. So, the reasons causing disease old age, the following:

1. Diseases of the respiratory system.
2. Insufficient intake of vitamins.
3. Heart failure.
4. Diseases of the genitourinary area.
5. Surgical interventions.
6. Sleep problems.
7. Physical inactivity.
8. Unbalanced diet.
9. Problems with vision or hearing.

Now let's look at what senile dementia is (symptoms, treatment). How long do people live with this disease? We will answer this question in more detail below.

General symptoms of senile psychoses

1. Slow course of the disease.
2. Weakening of memory abilities.
3. Distorted perception of reality.
4. A sharp change in character.
5. Sleep problems.
6. Anxiety.

Symptoms of acute forms of psychosis

1. Unconcentrated attention and difficulty in spatial orientation.
2. Difficulty taking care of yourself.
3. Fast fatiguability.
4. Sleep is disturbed, state of anxiety.
5. Lack of appetite.
6. Feelings of helplessness, confusion and fear.

The patient's condition is accompanied by delirium and constant anticipation of trouble. All psychoses can occur continuously or have periods of lucidity. The duration of the disease is approximately 4 weeks, this was written above.

Symptoms of chronic forms

1. Depression.
2. Feelings of uselessness.
3. Mild depression.
4. Self-recrimination.

IN various cases symptoms can be combined in different ways. Because of this, it is very difficult to recognize this pathology.

Acute forms of senile psychosis

Appear in the background somatic diseases, for this they are called bodily. Anything can cause a disorder, from a lack of vitamins and microelements to problems with hearing and visual apparatus.

Since the health of older people is compromised, they often try not to go to the hospital, and illnesses are diagnosed late. And this results in problems in the treatment of dementia. All of the above once again shows how important it is to promptly diagnose diseases of old people and treat them. Otherwise, irreparable harm may be caused to them.

The acute form develops suddenly, but sometimes it is preceded by a prodrome of 1 to 3 days.

At this time, a person experiences a feeling of weakness and problems maintaining personal hygiene, confusion and hallucinations occur. Then the attack occurs

During the latter, a person experiences chaotic movements and anxiety, and confused thinking. Delusions and thoughts appear that they want to take his life, take away his property, etc. Sometimes hallucinations and delusions arise, but they are few and constant. In some cases, when senile psychosis occurs, the symptoms of existing body diseases worsen.

Psychosis lasts about 3-4 weeks. Its course is either continuous or with remissions. It can only be treated in a hospital.

Chronic forms of senile psychosis

What is chronic psychosis? We will now look at the symptoms and signs of the disease. Depressive conditions are one of the first symptoms of the disease.

Occurs mainly in women. If the degree of the disease is mild, then the following are observed: weakness, lack of desire to do anything, a feeling of meaninglessness, uselessness. If the patient's condition is serious, then anxiety appears, deep depression, delirium of self-flagellation, agitation. The duration of the disease is 13-18 years. The memory is practically preserved.

Paranoid states

This pathology is classified as a disease of old age. Its peculiarity is the constant delirium that is poured out on one’s own relatives or neighbors. A sick person claims that they are not allowing him to live peacefully in his own apartment, they want to kick him out of it, kill him, poison him, etc. He believes that his things are being taken away from him.

If a person has a separate room, he locks himself there and does not let anyone in there. But, fortunately, with this type, a person can take care of himself independently. In a paranoid state, socialization is preserved, since the disease develops over a long period of time.

Hallucinosis

Hallucinosis is also psychosis. Its symptoms and signs vary depending on the type: verbal, tactile and visual.

With verbal hallucinosis, a person experiences verbal delirium: intimidation, sacrilege, indecent language, etc. During an attack, a person loses control over himself, confusion and chaotic movements appear. At other times, hallucinations are assessed critically by the patient himself. The age at which the disease occurs is mainly 71 years. This disease is classified into the group of “late-life psychoses.”

With visual hallucinosis, a person experiences hallucinations. At first there are few of them and they are flat, gray. After a few minutes, the visions become more numerous, they acquire color and volume. The characters of hallucinations are mainly unusual living beings, animals, and less often people. The person himself is aware of his painful state and tries not to succumb to hallucinations. Although sometimes there are situations when the images seem so realistic that the patient still follows their lead and does what he sees in them - he can talk with their characters. Mostly people over 81 years of age are affected.

With tactile hallucinosis, there are complaints of burning and itching on the skin, as well as sensations as if from bites. The patient thinks that ticks and bugs are crawling on his skin, or he feels sand on his body or stones. To the sensations are often added visual images: sees ants crawling on themselves, etc. A sick person wants with all his might to remove the discomfort: rinses his hands all the time, consults a skin doctor, etc. These hallucinations are observed between the ages of 49 and 66 years.

Hallucinatory-paranoid states

With this psychosis, paranoid psychosis is also combined. The disease appears at the age of 60 and lasts about 16 years. Clinical manifestations proceed according to the type of schizophrenia: a person hears voices, sees images, performs incomprehensible actions. Memory is preserved in the initial period of the disease. Violations become noticeable in the later stages.

Confabulation

Typical disorders of older people, so to speak, features of old age. IN in this case The patient experiences a complete personality restructuring, and real and fictitious events are confused. A person believes that he knows the president and is friends with some celebrity. From this arises

The pathology develops at the age of 71 years. Memory is not immediately impaired.

Naturally, the destruction of the psyche is considered an inevitable process in old age, and yet it causes great suffering both to the person himself and to his relatives. But no matter how difficult it is, we must try to fill the remaining years of the life of sick people with warmth and love.

How is senile psychosis treated?

Senile psychosis is a serious illness, and it is up to the doctor to decide whether the patient should be admitted to a hospital. Of course, the consent of relatives is required. Before starting treatment, the doctor carefully examines the patient in order to identify his general condition, determine the type of psychosis and severity, and the presence of somatic diseases.

If a person has a depressive disorder, then they are prescribed something like Pyrazidol, etc. Sometimes several medications are combined in certain dosages. For other types of psychosis, drugs like Propazin, Sonapax, etc. are needed. For any type of psychosis, corrective drugs are prescribed, for example Cyclodol.

Treatment is always chosen with individual approach. At the same time, correction of somatic disorders is carried out.

Treatment can be carried out both in specialized psychiatric clinics and in regular hospitals, because psychosis can occur against the background of certain diseases.

The most favorable prognosis is given when acute variants psychosis. What are the chances of recovery in chronic cases? Unfortunately, the prognosis is unfavorable. All medications only slow down the course of the pathology for a while. Therefore, relatives need to be patient, calm and loyal. After all, dementia is an integral stage in the life of every person.

No one can say for sure what the life expectancy of people with senile psychoses is. But on average, doctors give such patients from 6 to 11 years, depending on the condition of the human body.

Conclusion

Well, we have figured out what senile dementia is. Symptoms and treatment (we also indicated how long people with this condition live) depend on the type of pathology and the presence of concomitant somatic diseases. Now the reader can sensibly assess what to expect from such a disease.