Author Description

The second edition of this popular textbook continues to provide a thorough general overview of old age psychiatry for trainees, practising psychiatrists, and practitioners in other disciplines whose work brings them into contact with elderly psychiatric patients. All aspects of this now established specialty are covered by a multidisciplinary team of 49 contributors. Psychiatry in the Elderly brings together up-to-date reviews of the basic sciences (epidemiology, psychology, sociology, and pathology), the principles of clinical practice, and hands-on practical advice and instruction on the clinical diagnosis and management of all the psychiatric conditions that affect the elderly. There are general sections on basic sciences and clinical practice, and the design and provision of psychiatric services for older patients; as well as sections on specific disorders in old age psychiatry, such as depression and dementia, and the issues of sexuality, ethics and medicolegal issues. All of the chapters in this new edition have been substantially modified and updated, while more radical changes include the addition of new chapters on the molecular biology of dementia; the development and use of instruments for psychological assessment; family therapy; the economics of providing long term care; a carer's own perspective; mental disorders in older persons with learning disabilities; and delirium from the psychiatrist's and the geriatrician's perspective.