title: Depression-dementia medius: between depression and the manifestation of dementia symptoms.
abstract: Depression and dementia, among the most common conditions in clinical practice, sometimes coexist, sometimes succeed each other, and often confuse clinicians. In the present paper, the clinical concept of 'depression-dementia medius' (which includes pseudodementia and depression in Alzheimer's disease as exemplars) is proposed, in reference to Janet's concept of psychological tension. Because psychosomatically complex human lives are always in a state of dynamic equilibrium, it seems sensible to propose that pseudodementia and depression in Alzheimer's disease are located within a spectrum extending from depression without dementia symptoms to dementia without depression. From the Janetian viewpoint, pseudodementia is regarded as uncovered latent dementia as a result of reduced psychological tension. Dementia is more than a fixed progressive condition under this view, and is a manifestation of dynamic mental activities. Characterizing these entities through perspectives such as psychological tension may yield deep insights in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan. kabakun@jichi.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents