Does Delirium improve psychotic symptoms in old age? A clinical case series

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Sakshi Gupta

Geriatric Mental Health, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

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Delirium is an acute medical emergency characterized by fluctuations in attention and disturbances in cognition; found more commonly in elderly owing to numerous co-morbidities and neurobiological underpinnings. In the clinical setting of Geriatric Mental Health (GMH) two old aged patients with chronic schizophrenia since 30 years receiving antipsychotics were hospitalized due to delirium; however had no psychotic symptoms during the ward stay. They were drug free since day 1 of admission and were found asymptomatic even after delirium subsided. We highlight 2 such cases of our clinical ward settings where we concluded that delirium improved psychotic symptoms in symptomatic patients. Thus the current study is an attempt to elucidate patho-physiology and mechanism of delirium in ameliorating psychotic symptoms.

Biography

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Dr Sakshi Gupta, Consultant Neuro-Psychiatrist is the founder of "The Healing Clinic" at Punjab, India. She pursued her graduation (MBBS) and post graduation (MD) in Psychiatry from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. Besides being a life fellow of "The Indian Psychiatric Society" she is a singer, writer and blogger and pens poetic expression of adversities borne by Indian women advocating female empowerment. She served as the district psychiatrist of Patiala, nodal officer of OOAT Clinics (Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment) and participated in numerous camps for free mental health check up and disability certification of people with mental illness and children. She has been a speaker in national and international conferences and has been awarded and felicitated for her exemplary services.