The Overlooked Challenge: Schizophrenia in the Elderly

The overlooked challenge: schizophrenia in the elderly can increase the risk of dementia.

I often wonder what my life will be like as I creep up on elderly age with having schizophrenia? Is it going to get a lot worse?

Will I end up like my mother who had schizophrenia? I think she had late onset schizophrenia because I hadn’t seen her act that way before.

Consequently, I can remember my first experience with schizo. I had moved into a small apartment after my first divorce and it happened (mainly delusions).

So, what is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that affects everything from how you think to how you feel and behave—but that doesn’t mean it has to control your life.

Early Signs of Schizophrenia in Older Adults

Hence, Early signs of schizophrenia in older adults can include:

Behavior changes: Becoming eccentric, unmotivated, emotionless, or reclusive. They may also neglect their appearance, isolate themselves, or abandon hobbies.
Hallucinations: Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that aren’t real. The most common hallucination is hearing voices.
Delusions: Having delusional beliefs.
Speech: Speaking in a flat tone, using strange words, or speaking incoherently.
Movement: Unusual physical movements, such as catatonic behavior or excessive motion.
Withdrawal: Withdrawing from daily activities or failing to participate.
Confused thoughts: Having confused thoughts or being unable to concentrate.
Odd feelings: Having odd feelings, such as feeling like insects or hands are moving on their body.
Paranoia: Having extreme sensitivity to lights and sounds, or feeling like they are being followed or stalked.

Early signs of schizophrenia can last from a few weeks to a few years.

Elderly Schizophrenia Symptoms

Hearing, feeling, or smelling things that no one else acknowledges.
Odd feelings of things moving on their bodies, such as insects or hands.
Feeling they are being followed or stalked.
Thinking television characters are real and present in their space.
Disorganized speech.
Confused thoughts and inability to concentrate.
Withdrawal or failure to participate in the activities of daily living.

As you can see, the symptoms are difficult to distinguish from some of the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Though Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia are different disorders, new research suggests that both diseases may affect the same areas of the brain.

Why is There an Upward Trend in Schizophrenia in Elderly Adults?

The overlooked challenge: schizophrenia in the elderly is being diagnosed more because people are living longer.

As the United States population ages, the number of elderly people with schizophrenia is increasing.

An early-onset diagnosis of schizophrenia usually persists throughout a person’s life, and life expectancy has risen since the time of diagnosis.

This has resulted in many seniors who suffer from the disorder.

The risk for developing schizophrenia-like psychosis late in life increases with age, poor social networks, isolation, cognitive impairment, or traumatic life events.

As baby boomers age, they will continue to need care and treatment for the mental health conditions they may have been battling since early adulthood.

Psychotic symptoms are not uncommon in the elderly population.

Late Onset Schizophrenia in Elderly

Late-onset schizophrenia is a mental health condition where symptoms of schizo appear in a person after the age of 40.

This is what I have, mine didn’t appear until after my 40’s.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms are hallucinations and delusions. Other symptoms include disorganized thought, catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms that can look like depression.

Risk Factors

Women are more likely to develop late-onset schizophrenia than men. People with cognitive, vision, or hearing problemsmay get it.

Also, who are suspicious, isolated, or reclusive may also be more likely to get it.

Treatment

Patients with late-onset schizophrenia typically require lower doses of antipsychotics than those with early-onset schizophrenia.

However, antipsychotic drugs can have adverse effects in older adults, so alternative treatments are needed.

These include brain stimulation therapies like electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and deep brain stimulation.

Importance of Seeking Professional Help

Symptoms of late-onset schizophrenia can seem to come out of nowhere and can feel like they’re derailing your life.

My first experience was that I thought a gang member was trying to kill me. I kept thinking I was hearing them crawl around in the vents.

What is the Difference Between Schizophrenia and Dementia in the Elderly?

While both schizophrenia and dementia can affect cognitive function and behavior, the key difference is that schizophrenia primarily manifests with hallucinations and delusions.

Dementia is characterized by progressive memory loss and difficulties with everyday tasks.

Dementia is usually being more prominent in the elderly and considered a result age-related brain decline, whereas schizophrenia typically appears earlier in life and is not directly tied to aging.

Key points to differentiate the two:

Symptoms: Schizophrenia is marked by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking and speech. Dementia presents with primary symptoms like memory loss, confusion, difficulty with language, and problems with spatial orientation.
Onset: Schizophrenia usually begins in early adulthood, while dementia is more common in older people.
Progression: While schizophrenia can have fluctuating symptoms, it is not typically considered a progressive disease like dementia, where cognitive decline steadily worsens over time.
Cause: The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Dementia is often caused by underlying neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Important consideration: Although distinct, people with schizophrenia may have an increased risk of developing dementia later in life.

Some symptoms like cognitive impairment can overlap between the two conditions, making diagnosis challenging in certain cases.

With my mother, they didn’t diagnose here with dementia until near the end of her life. They just focused on her mental illness as the cause of everything.

What is the Life Expectancy of Someone With Schizophrenia?

The overlooked challenge: schizophrenia in the elderly have lower life expectancy. People with schizophrenia generally have a shorter life expectancy than the general population:

Life Expectancy

People with schizophrenia live an average of 10–20 years less than people without schizophrenia.

The average life expectancy for people with schizophrenia is 64.7 years, with men living to an average of 59.9 years and women living to an average of 67.6 years.

It’s not nice to know that I have a shorter lifespan than someone without schizophrenia. That’s like telling someone exactly when they are going to die.

And just because of genetics. That’s why I vowed not to have any children. I didn’t want to have my child terrorized by this terrible disorder.

What Happens to Schizophrenics as They Get Older?

Symptoms of schizophrenia can change in intensity and frequency as people age. Some symptoms may improve, while others may persist or worsen.

Positive Symptoms

These symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, may decrease over time. This may be due to a decline in dopamine activity in the brain as people age.

I’ve been on, so far, a short streak of having no delusions or hallucinations. Hopefully it will continue and not have anymore, ever again! I feel like my normal self.

Negative Symptoms

These symptoms, such as social withdrawal, apathy, and decreased motivation, may persist or worsen.

This could be due to the natural process of aging, which can lead to increased isolation.

Cognitive Impairment

Cognitive deficits are a fundamental feature of schizophrenia and are observed across the life span.

Hence, cognitive decline may be similar to that in unaffected individuals until the age of 65 to 70 years.

Hospitalizations

Older people with schizophrenia are more often hospitalized due to physical problems, not schizophrenia.

I’ve had enough of mental hospitals. Hopefully I never step foot in one again!

Medication

Older patients typically require lower daily doses of antipsychotics compared with patients with an early onset of the disorder.

However, these medications may be less effective in addressing negative and cognitive symptoms.

Substance Abuse

Self-medicating through substance abuse is less common in older people with schizophrenia.

However, substance abuse can lead to increased depressive symptoms.

What is the Leading Cause of Death in Schizophrenics Patients?

The overlooked challenge: schizophrenia in the elderly has a leading cause of death.

According to current research, the leading cause of death in schizophrenic patients is cardiovascular disease (heart disease), accounting for a significant portion of deaths in this population.

Key points about this topic:

Higher Mortality Rate

People with schizophrenia have a significantly higher mortality rate from cardiovascular disease compared to the general population.

Contributing Factors

Factors like smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, and potential side effects from antipsychotic medications can contribute to increased cardiovascular risk in people with schizophrenia.

I know that my cholesterol was sky high because of the Olanzapine I take for the schizophrenia. My doctor put me on a high dose of medicine to combat it.

Medicines compound on one another because of a side effect from this or that med. Pretty soon, your taking upteen dozen pills because of one med.

Other Causes of Death

While cardiovascular disease is the primary cause, other factors like suicide, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can also be significant contributors.

Sum It All Up

The overlooked challenge: schizophrenia in the elderly is similar to dementia in the elderly.

So, I don’t have much longer to live according to all of the studies because I have schizo. I had a late onset of it (after age 40).

And I get to probably look forward to having dementia like my mother. I have seen first hand what dementia can do to someone (not my mother). Therefore, I hope I go before it gets bad.

I can remember exactly my first delusion and everything that happened. All the times the fire department was there. They probably got tired of me (I would have).

When I do go, I hope it’s quick and not prolonged like having dementia. Enough talk about death, Here’s to aging gracefully! Peace and always love. Until next time…