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Advise On Mental Health Of 68 Year Old With Forgetfulness
My 68 year old father said to my mum and I that a television presenter looks at him for real, he said it started happening around 6 months ago, its gotten to the point that my dad has to leave the bedroom to change somewhere else because he thinks the people and especially the television presenter will see him change clothes, i am worried about my dad, do you know what kind of thing he mightt be going through or suffering from,? Is it ahlzeimers/mental disorder/ or something else? He is lately showing sign of forgetting alotof things like peoples names , not understanding who my mum is talking about and its a person we regularly see, not answering a question logically etc. your help would be much appreciated, i just want to get advice to see what kind of health professional i can refer him to see. Thankyou
Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Hi,
From what you have mentioned, your father seems to be having forgetfulness with behavioral symptoms in form of persecutory/referential ideas. These are suggestive of Dementia. I would advise you to seek a psychiatric consultation. Had I been your psychiatrist, I would have evaluated him completely for any medical disorder like hypertension, diabetes, any cardiac illness, etc. He will be needing to undergo a brain scan (MRI) to rule out any focal brain lesion. Psychometric testing for cognitive evaluation will be recommended. I would have started him on one of the medications for dementia like donepizil for forgetfulness and an atypical antipsychotic like quetiapine to control his behavioral problems. Hope this information was helpful. Best wishes.
From what you have mentioned, your father seems to be having forgetfulness with behavioral symptoms in form of persecutory/referential ideas. These are suggestive of Dementia. I would advise you to seek a psychiatric consultation. Had I been your psychiatrist, I would have evaluated him completely for any medical disorder like hypertension, diabetes, any cardiac illness, etc. He will be needing to undergo a brain scan (MRI) to rule out any focal brain lesion. Psychometric testing for cognitive evaluation will be recommended. I would have started him on one of the medications for dementia like donepizil for forgetfulness and an atypical antipsychotic like quetiapine to control his behavioral problems. Hope this information was helpful. Best wishes.
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