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Pseudodementia: Facts and Figures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

A. Bulbena  and
G. E. Berrios
A. Bulbena
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Level 4, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
G. E. Berrios*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Level 4, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

The historical and conceptual aspects of the pseudodementia state are briefly touched upon. A “collective sample”, composed of 61 cases culled from the literature, is analysed and compared with the “Fulbourn sample” consisting of 22 cases reported for the first time. Two sub-types of pseudodementia emerge, one associated with depressive illness and the other with delirium. A follow-up of the Fulbourn sample (1–4 years after discharge) showed 14 patients to be alive and 8 to show no signs of dementia. No variable except the diagnosis “non-specific psychosis” correlated with death during the follow-up period.

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Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 148 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 87 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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