Problems Affecting Mental Health

Psychotic Illness Psychosis is one of the most severe forms of illness affecting the mind. While psychotic symptoms and disorders are far less common among older adults than depression or anxiety, they still account for a considerable amount of suffering in later life.People with psychotic illness often appear to have completely lost touch with reality, and when their symptoms are severe, they are unable to function normally and may require hospitalization. The main feature of psychotic illness is delusions false and sometimes bizarre beliefs. These beliefs are real in the sufferer's mind and cause him to misinterpret ordinary perceptions or experiences. Often the person suffers visual or aural hallucinations that seem extremely real. He may believe he is being tormented, followed, tricked, spied on or ridiculed, and this makes him suspicious and agitated.People who are psychotic may also become extremely with drawn and apathetic. This may be mistaken for laziness or uncooperativeness. When their symptoms are severe, they may find it nearly impossible to function normally in the world. Older people are most likely to experience psychotic symptoms in the course of a depression or dementing illness, as the result of physical illness such as Huntington's disease or after certain types of brain injury. Alcohol or drug intoxication is another common source of delusions or hallucinations in older adults.Sometimes older people become extremely afraid that they're having hallucinations when they aren't. The following experiences are common among healthy people and do not qualify as psychotic hallucinations.Hearing or seeing things just as you awaken or fall asleep.Hearing someone call your name occasionally when there's no one there (this is especially common in the weeks and months following the death of a spouse or loved one).A musical humming inside your head that clearly isn't coming from the outside.The most common type of psychotic illness affecting people of all ages is schizo phrenia, which is estimated to affect about 1 percent of the population. Although there are cases of schizophrenia beginning fairly late in life, most people tend to develop symptoms when they are young the aver age age of onset for men is sometime in late adolescence or the early 20s, while for women the disease usually shows up between ages 25 and 30.There are several types of schizophrenia, but symptoms usually include delusions, hallucinations and obvious disorders in speech, thinking and perception. In many cases these symptoms alternate with periods of extreme apathy and with drawal.Doctors still don't know what causes schizophrenia. In the past it was falsely blamed on poor parenting or other psychological factors. Now researchers believe that biochemical factors are involved, most likely an imbalance in the brain chemical dopamine. That's why certain antipsychotic drugs that suppress dopamine can often control psychotic symptoms and help many people with schizophrenia live relatively normal lives.Schizophrenia is an extremely difficult illness for those who suffer from it and for their families. Older adults who have had schizophrenia for many years may face additional problems when their spouses become ill or die.Unfortunately, very little research has been done into how aging affects schizophrenia. There's some evidence that older adults suffer less from the active symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations and more from symptoms such as apathy and social with drawal. Studies have also shown that as they age, people with schizophrenia tend to require lower dosages of anti psychotic medication to control their symptoms. If someone you know seems to be developing psychotic symptoms, either spontaneously or in the course of another illness, it's vital to report this to your doctor.