Dementia: Management of Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms

Entered for the Society of Authors and the Royal Society of Medicine Medical Book Awards 2001

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms. This book focuses on the clinically distinct categories of non-cognitive symptoms such as mood disorders and sexual disinhibition. The contents provides a review of the nature, assessment and management of behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia.Dementia is a syndrome characterized by cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms. This book focuses on the clinically distinct categories of non-cognitive symptoms. These are grouped together under the umbrella term Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia (BPSD). BPSD include agitation (describing a cluster of related symptoms including anxiety, irritability and motor restlessness, often leading to behaviours such as wandering, pacing, aggression, shouting and night-time disturbances), psychosis (referring to three main categories of symptoms: hallucinations, delusions and delusional misidentification) and mood disorders (depression, anxiety and hypomania). Other symptoms include sexual disinhibition, eating problems and abnormal vocalizations (shouting, screaming and demanding attention). There are many reasons why a patient with dementia may develop BPSD. Because of these potential different aetiologies, a full and careful assessment of possible physical, psychological and environmental factors is essential. This book will inform all of those responsible for caring for the patient with dementia about the identification of BPSD, the nature of the symptoms, assessment of their severity and recommends a structured and sequential approach to management. The authors are internationally respected, combining expertise from the fields of clinical research, psychiatry and clinical psychology to provide an integrated approach to the topic.