Pseudodementia is the syndrome in which dementia is mimicked or
caricatured by functional psychiatric disorders. The author describes 10
patients with pseudodementia and compares its clinical features with those
of true dementia. The syndrome occurred in patients with various
psychiatric diagnoses, but a striking feature in most patients was marked
dependency. The recognition of this clinical syndrome should obviate the
need for many neurological diagnostic studies and lead to earlier and more
effective psychiatric treatment.
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