Differentiation and Initial Intervention of Hallucinations and Delusions in Old Age

Abstract

Hallucination or delusion in the old age is an important topic as same as dementia and cognitive decline. Because a variety of diseases can cause hallucination and delusion, we should make an appropriate diagnosis for useful treatment. At first, we should consider the presentation of organic diseases, such as malignant tumor and so on. Delirium often occurs based on malignant tumors, which is the major factors of hallucination and delusion. If the patient only have delusion without any organic diseases, we should consider delusional disorder or paranoia. Elderly patients with hallucination or delusion can have many factors, such as intracranial diseases, other physical diseases, psychiatric diseases, psychological factors, or environmental stress in their background. So we should consider an appropriate differential diagnosis. When we use antipsychotic drugs, we should be careful to try them from a small dose for fear of extrapyramidal symptoms.