Personality disorder masquerading as dementia: a case of apparent Diogenes syndrome

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 703-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin W. Greve ◽  
Kelly L. Curtis ◽  
Kevin J. Bianchini ◽  
Bradley T. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome

Personality in later life: personality disorder and the effects of illness on personality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Oppenheimer
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Good Care ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Personality Changes ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
The Life Course

This chapter covers disorders of personality in later life, including personality changes caused by dementia. There is little agreement on how best to measure personality in old age. Nevertheless, it is clear that specific changes in personality accompany dementia, particularly fronto-temporal dementia. Personality disorder (PD) in older people has been little studied and is beset by problems of definition. The current (DSM-IV) categories of PD need modification to take account of the biological and cultural contexts of old age before valid studies of the epidemiology and the life course of PDs can be made. An older person’s personality style will profoundly influence their adjustment to major life-stresses, and good care depends on clinicians’ understanding of this. Long-standing personality traits are probably important in the development of the Diogenes syndrome (extreme self-neglect) in later life.

scholarly journals Senile squalor: Plyushkin's not Diogenes' syndrome

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 319-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Cybulska
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Frontal Lobe Dysfunction ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome ◽  
End Stage ◽  
Senile Squalor

Some names appear to stick to syndromes or diseases like a proverbial glue, regardless of their total inappropriateness. Gross self-neglect in old age characterised by domestic squalor, social withdrawal, apathy, tendency to hoard rubbish (syllogomania) and a lack of shame was originally reported by Macmillan & Shaw in 1966 and subsequently ‘christened’ by Clark et al as Diogenes∗ syndrome in 1975. Post (1982) preferred the term ‘senile recluse’ and argued that this is not a syndrome but merely an end stage of personality disorder. It was usually extremely difficult to help these patients, as one's care and goodwill often met with hostility and blunt refusal to cooperate (Cybulska & Rucinski, 1986). More recent studies, however, have shown a strong association of this condition with frontal lobe dysfunction (Orrell & Sahakian, 1991), thus giving a psychiatrist of old age a somewhat firmer basis for action.

Diogenes' syndrome: review and case history

1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian O'Shea ◽  
Jane Falvey
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Frontal Lobe Dysfunction ◽  
Helping Professions ◽  
Common Pathway ◽  
Multidisciplinary Assessment ◽  
Original Case ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome

AbstractOur objective in writing this paper was to present a case of Diogenes' syndrome and to examine the evolution of thinking about the phenomenon. To do this we looked at original case material and then carried out a literature review, the results of this showed the syndrome has been reported most often in the elderly and in higher socio-economic groups. It represents a non-specific final common pathway for many interacting variables.In our conclusion we found that a detailed multidisciplinary assessment is indicated in all cases. Further work is required to estimate the role of personality disorder and organic frontal lobe dysfunction in the aetiology of this syndrome. A multiaxial approach to diagnosis should be employed. Intervention should be based on objective findings and risk-assessment, rather than on ideological grounds. Irish law does not allow a large variety of options to the helping professions.

Organic Personality Disorder and Diogenes Symptoms: Case Report and Current Status of the Issue

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S507-S507
Author(s):  
N. Rodríguez Criado ◽  
J.F. Cruz Fourcade ◽  
P. Muñoz-Calero Franco ◽  
B. Sánchez Sánchez ◽  
R. Martín Aragón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Behavioral Disorder ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Early Management ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Organic Personality Disorder

ObjectiveTo review the current knowledge about Diogenes symptoms and organic personality disorder through systematic review of the literature and the analysis of a case.MethodsCase report. Review. Literature sources were obtained through electronic search in PubMed.gov database of 10 last years.ResultsBackground: Diogenes syndrome is a behavioral disorder characterized by severe self-neglect, hoarding, domestic dirt, and lack of shame regarding one's living state. Patients may present due to a range of reasons, few studies has been described hoarding symptoms secondary to brain injury. Early management could reduce their high-mortality condition.Case presentationWe present a case of a 67-year-old Caucasian female known with a organic personality disorder secondary to a head trauma with obsessive hoarding symptoms. After being hospitalizated, we were authorized to explore her personal items trough photographs. Her handbag and her house were filled with rubbish and rotting food. Our patient had no insight into any self-hygiene or public health problems.ConclusionsInformation of the characteristics of Diogenes syndrome can help in earlier recognition of such persons, in order to decrease their morbidity and mortality.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Tools & Resources: Impairment and Disability Web Sites

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 5-6
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Outpatient Psychotherapy ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Not Otherwise Specified ◽  
Cluster B Personality Disorders ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract Personality disorders are enduring patterns of inner experience and behavior that deviate markedly from those expected by the individual's culture; these inflexible and pervasive patterns reflect issues with cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning and impulse control, and lead to clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fourth Edition, defines two specific personality disorders, in addition to an eleventh condition, Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Cluster A personality disorders include paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personalities; of these, Paranoid Personality Disorder probably is most common in the legal arena. Cluster B personality disorders include antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality. Such people may suffer from frantic efforts to avoid perceived abandonment, patterns of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, an identity disturbance, and impulsivity. Legal issues that involve individuals with cluster B personality disorders often involve determination of causation of the person's problems, assessment of claims of harassment, and assessment of the person's fitness for employment. Cluster C personality disorders include avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality. Two case histories illustrate some of the complexities of assessing impairment in workers with personality disorders, including drug abuse, hospitalizations, and inpatient and outpatient psychotherapy.

Test-Retest Reliability of a Self-Report Questionnaire for DSM-IV and ICD-10 Personality Disorders

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Ottosson ◽  
Martin Grann ◽  
Gunnar Kullgren
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Anxiety State ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Summary: Short-term stability or test-retest reliability of self-reported personality traits is likely to be biased if the respondent is affected by a depressive or anxiety state. However, in some studies, DSM-oriented self-reported instruments have proved to be reasonably stable in the short term, regardless of co-occurring depressive or anxiety disorders. In the present study, we examined the short-term test-retest reliability of a new self-report questionnaire for personality disorder diagnosis (DIP-Q) on a clinical sample of 30 individuals, having either a depressive, an anxiety, or no axis-I disorder. Test-retest scorings from subjects with depressive disorders were mostly unstable, with a significant change in fulfilled criteria between entry and retest for three out of ten personality disorders: borderline, avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Scorings from subjects with anxiety disorders were unstable only for cluster C and dependent personality disorder items. In the absence of co-morbid depressive or anxiety disorders, mean dimensional scores of DIP-Q showed no significant differences between entry and retest. Overall, the effect from state on trait scorings was moderate, and it is concluded that test-retest reliability for DIP-Q is acceptable.

Suicidal Behavior in Patients with Adjustment Disorders

Crisis ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Kryzhanovskaya ◽  
Randolph Canterbury
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Adjustment Disorder ◽  
Adjustment Disorders ◽  
Involuntary Hospitalization ◽  
Axis Ii ◽  
The Past ◽  
Substance Abuse Disorders ◽  
Axis I

Summary: This retrospective study characterizes the suicidal behavior in 119 patients with Axis I adjustment disorders as assessed by psychiatrists at the University of Virginia Hospital. Results indicated that 72 patients (60.5%) had documented suicide attempts in the past, 96% had been suicidal during their admission to the hospital, and 50% had attempted suicide before their hospitalization. The most commonly used method of suicide attempts was overdosing. Of the sample group with suicide attempts in the past, 67% had Axis II diagnoses of borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. Adjustment disorder diagnosis in patients with the suicide attempts was associated with a high level of suicidality at admission, involuntary hospitalization and substance-abuse disorders. Axis II diagnoses in patients with adjustment disorders constituted risk factors for further suicidal behavior. Additional future prospective studies with reliability checks on diagnosis of adjustment disorders and suicidal behavior are needed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document