Abstract
EMOTIONAL disorders associated with old age ordinarily are considered to be due to presenile, senile, arteriosclerotic, and mixed types of organic brain syndromes. Functional mental illness has only recently been recognized as a major concomitant of old age. Even slight, so-called normal impairment may trigger excessive anxiety and depression in a rigid, insecure person. Many experienced clinicians view unrecognized depression in old age as a more important problem than that of the organic brain syndromes—it is much more amenable to treatment. About one person in six of those aged 65 years or more have some manifestation of organic brain syndrome. On the other hand, as many as 25% to 30% of the same group have some type of functional disorder, such as depression or neurosis. Many individuals have both organic and functional disorders, but the main point is that age, per se, does not necessarily indicate that the patient's emotional
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