Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:626-629
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
Severe depressive pseudodementia with and without dementia
TW McAllister and TR Price
Recent work has documented the existence of the syndrome of pseudodementia.
The authors present four cases of depressive pseudodementia, two without
associated dementing illnesses and two that occurred in the context of
dementing illnesses. These cases emphasize the difficult nature of
differential diagnosis and the profound cognitive impairment that can occur
in depressive illness. They also document the coexistence of pseudodementia
with "true" dementia. The authors discuss diagnostic and management issues
for clinicians treating patients with pseudodementia and depressive
illness.
