Functional psychoses
Psychotic symptoms are more common in older people than in any other age. The most frequent psychotic disorders in older people are juvenile-onset schizophrenia in ageing patients, psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease, and the late- and very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis. Drug treatment of all types of psychosis is essential and often achieves similar levels of efficacy than in younger adults. The treatment of choice for any psychotic condition is atypical antipsychotics. Rather than being based on specific diagnosis, the choice of drug must be highly personalized, depending on the efficacy for the particular patient, drug’s profile of adverse effects, medical comorbidities, and concomitant medications. Attention should be paid to the emergence of adverse effects that are in general more frequently found with conventional than with atypical antipsychotics. Clinical and psychological management includes the need to establish a therapeutic alliance with the patient and ensure adherence to treatment in the long term.