Assessment and Treatment of the Late-Onset Psychoses
Andrew F. Leuchter M.D.1
1 The Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles
The UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90024
The late-onset psychoses are a heterogeneous group of disorders, with differing prognoses and responses to medication. Despite this heterogeneity, the presentations of primary psychotic disorder and psychoses due to affective disorder or organic mental disorder can be remarkably similar. To avoid diagnostic error, the mental health professional must bear in mind the nonspecific nature of psychotic symptomatology.
