Geriatric depression: atypical presentations, hidden meanings.
Geriatric patients with affective illness often present with unusual or atypical symptom patterns that make diagnosis difficult. Depression may be masked as pseudodementia, somatization, or anxiety/irritability, or it may be an underlying factor in pain syndromes and alcohol abuse. In the elderly, depression may be a primary or secondary symptom of a concomitant medical condition, including thyroid disease and occult neoplasm. Common medications, including some antihypertensive agents, may also have etiologic significance.
McCullough
P K
PK
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago.
D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans