23 - Mental illness in old age

Abstract

This chapter discusses the mental illness in old age. The concept of the multidisciplinary team is, in most areas, well established in the field of mental illness in elderly people. The potential for complicated multipathology within this field, coupled with a possible myriad of social problems, means that there is likely to be a large number of different services and people involved with the client. It is found that while the primary medical input would come from a psychiatrist, there must be close involvement from a physician in geriatric medicine. The team should function both in the hospital setting and in the community, and if possible, cross the boundaries between the hospital and local authority services, so that local authority social workers can be as much members of the team as health service workers. Elderly people are particularly likely to be taking drugs as treatment for a medical condition and may display depressive side effects and unwanted toxic effects of the drugs. Drugs used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions are capable of producing the central nervous system symptoms or mood depression, and diagnosis of depression in an elderly person should include a careful evaluation of concurrent medication.