Mood Disorders in Later Life

JAMES M. ELLISON is Clinical Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Program and Director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at McLean Hospital, Belmont, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He received his M.D. from University of California Medical School in San Francisco, California and his M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Ellison’s clinical work and research interests focus on mood and cognitive disorders of later life. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Curriculum Committee member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and a member of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He is a reviewer for several journals and has edited and contributed to books on psychopharmacology, anxiety disorders, neuropsychiatry, and the care of suicidal patients in managed care settings. Dr. Ellison is also the co-editor of Informa Healthcare’s 2003 title, Depression in Later Life: A Multidisciplinary Psychiatric Approach. HELEN H. KYOMEN is Assistant Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and Medical Director, MetroWest Medical Center Geropsychiatric Treatment Unit, Natick and Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Kyomen received her MD from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA and her MS in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is a graduate of the Harvard School of Public Health Program in Clinical Effectiveness and the Harvard Medical School Division on Aging/National Institute on Aging Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program and serves as Principal Investigator of the ongoing study, “Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural Aspects of Mood and Behavioral Disturbances in Geropsychiatric Patients: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Perspectives.” She has been a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Merck U.S. Human Health/American Geriatrics Society New Investigator Award and the American Geriatrics Society Presidential Poster Award. She is an ad hoc reviewer for the American Journal of Psychiatry, the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. SUMER VERMA is Director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship and Educational Programs, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and Lecturer on Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is the Medical Director of the Alzheimers Unit at Briarwood Nursing Facility in Needham Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Verma received his M.B;B.S from Medical College Amritsar, India and M.D.(Gastroenterology) from Punjab University, Chandigarh, India. He has a number of national teaching awards and most recently was recognized by Psychiatric Times as “Teacher of the Year” in 2000. Dr. Verma is also the co-editor of Depression in Later Life: A Multidisciplinary Psychiatric Approach.

Preface. 1. Diagnosing Depression in Later Life. 2. Geriatric Non-Major Depressive Syndromes. 3. The Epidemiology of Major Depression in Geriatric Populations. 4. Bipolar Disorder in Later Life. 5. Barriers to the Safe and Effective Treatment of Mood Disorders. 6. Economic Burden of Late Life Depression: Cost of Illness, Cost of Treatment, and Cost of Control Policies. 7. Late Life Suicide. 8. Neurobiological Aspects of Late Life Mood Disorders. 9. The Interface between Depression and Dementia. 10. The Vascular Depression Concept and Its Implications. 11. Mood Disorders and Medical Illness in the Elderly. 12. Substance Use Disorders and Late Life Depression. 13. Barriers to Psychiatric Treatment for the Geriatric Patient: Cultural Issues. 14. Bereavement In Later Life. 15. Pharmacotherapy of Late Life Depression-Evidence Based Recommendations. 16. Electroconvulsive Therapy and Neurotherapeutic Treatments for Late Life Depression: Evidence Based Recommendations. 17. Psychotherapy for Late Life Mood Disorders. 18. Barriers to Treatment. 19. Late-Life Depression and Bipolar Disorders, Facts Affecting Long-Term Prognosis and Maintenance Treatment Outcomes.