Most older adults with depression can't access weekly psychotherapy, but brief, structured interventions can still help. This article reviews three approaches proven effective in brief visits and shows how clinicians can weave them into a standard medication check without adding time.
Loneliness and social isolation aren't the same thing, and the distinction matters clinically. Dr. Jin Hui Joo explains how chronic loneliness drives depression, suicide risk, and dementia, which screening tools are practical in a busy clinic, and how to tailor interventions for bereaved, caregiving, and homebound patients.
Is it the heart or the mind—and which psychotropic is safe to prescribe? This update reviews QTc risk, orthostasis, and metabolic effects across antidepressants and antipsychotics in cardiac patients.
Older adults receive less psychotherapy than any other age group, partly on the assumption that talk therapy works less well in late life. Does the evidence back that assumption up?
Citalopram works for agitation in Alzheimer's disease but comes with QTc concerns and strict dosing limits. Escitalopram, its purer enantiomer, seemed like an obvious fix. Is it as effective for agitation?
Diabetes raises dementia risk, and guidelines already favor GLP-1 agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors for cardiovascular protection. Does either class also guard against cognitive decline? A pooled analysis of 23 trials offers a surprising split.
Antipsychotics can worsen motor symptoms and raise mortality in Parkinson's disease psychosis, leaving clinicians with few good options. Could an industry-funded expert panel's new algorithm change practice for these patients?
Dr. Collier is the director of education in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital and an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Collier completed her psychiatry residency at Duke University Medical Center and fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Collier teaches and supervises medical students, residents, and fellows in geriatric psychiatry, and she works on projects training non-specialist clinicians in resource-limited settings.
