Depression in Older Adults: A Treatable Medical Condition.

Depression is not a normal part of the aging process. Depression in older adults is a treatable medical condition; a variety of psychotherapeutic options are available. Electroconvulsive therapy is a useful treatment.

Outcomes of a Two-Component Intervention on Behavioral Symptoms in Persons With Dementia and Symptom Response in Their Caregivers.

Purpose: This study evaluated the longitudinal influence of an individualized evidence-based psychoeducational intervention for caregivers on frequency of behavioral symptoms in persons with dementia (PWD) and caregiver reaction to these symptoms. The intervention included information about the disease process using Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold (PLST) content and a family meeting based on Mittelman's New York University Intervention.

Method: A quasi-experimental study design was implemented.

Pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia.

Approximately 5 million Americans have dementia, and many receive psychiatric medications. Management of such patients is complex and controversial, and it has become apparent that all potential pharmacological therapies present risks.

Do antidepressant medications work?

Treatment-resistant depression is extremely common-but does that mean there is no place for antidepressants?

Schizophrenia: medical illness, mortality, and aging.

Objective: Schizophrenia is a devastating and common psychiatric disorder which is associated with a high degree of medical morbidity and reduced life span in addition to psychosis. In this article, these problems will be discussed in the context of schizophrenia and aging.

Method: The recent literature was reviewed using Pubmed, Medline, and Google scholar with the search terms "schizophrenia, aging, medical problems.

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Friedreich's Ataxia.

A woman with Friedreich's ataxia, a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder affecting primarily the spinal cord and cerebellum, had intractable depression in the context of bipolar disorder. Electroconvulsive therapy resulted in substantial improvement of depressive symptoms while not adversely affecting the patient's neurologic status.

Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome.

A case of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) successfully treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is presented and the literature on this subject is summarized. The possibility of an etiologic link between catatonia related to a psychiatric disorder and NMS is explored. Possible relationships between NMS and lethal catatonia are explored.