Description
Psychotic symptoms, specifically delusions and hallucinations, are not uncommon amongst geriatric inpatients. These symptoms are associated with a number of serious mental disorders which may be classified into three groups; organic psychoses (dementia and delirium), functional psychoses (schizophrenia and other non affective psychoses) and affective psychoses (psychotic depression and mania). With the general physician and geriatrician in mind, this article discusses the assessment, differential diagnosis and treatment of psychosis in the elderly.
