Three points must strike anyone who has embarked on a study of dementia over a period of time. Firstly, that our conception of the syndrome is in a state of flux. Gone, for instance, in the past decade or two, is the requirement of a chronic, progressive, irreversible disorder for the diag­ nosis. I remember the surgeon who, when I was a student, returned a referral saying he would operate on the man when his dementia got better. Feeling superior, and encouraged by the consultant psychiatrist, we students laughed a good deal at this. Before we finished clerking on that Unit a visiting Professor of Psychiatry had demonstrated the reversibility of the symptoms of dementia in a patient with a rare metabolic disorder. Perhaps ignorance is sometimes an advance on received wisdom. The lesson is the concept of dementia must always reflect the state of knowledge and is therefore in a sense ad hoc. Secondly, what the criteria for, and also who the arbiters of, the diagnosis might be is not always clear. It is traditional to think that expressing opinions and making diagnosis of mental illness is almost a civic right, i.e.

Dementia: A survey of the syndrome of dementia

Politics & Social Sciences

B. Mahendra

Social Sciences

MacMillan Technical Publishing

Three points must strike anyone who has embarked on a study of dementia over a period of time. Firstly, that our conception of the syndrome is in a state of flux. Gone, for instance, in the past decade or two, is the requirement of a chronic, progressive, irreversible disorder for the diag nosis. I remember the surgeon who, when I was a student, returned a referral saying he would operate on the man when his dementia got better. Feeling superior, and encouraged by the consultant psychiatrist, we students laughed a good deal at this. Before we finished clerking on that Unit a visiting Professor of Psychiatry had demonstrated the reversibility of the symptoms of dementia in a patient with a rare metabolic disorder. Perhaps ignorance is sometimes an advance on received wisdom. The lesson is the concept of dementia must always reflect the state of knowledge and is therefore in a sense ad hoc. Secondly, what the criteria for, and also who the arbiters of, the diagnosis might be is not always clear. It is traditional to think that expressing opinions and making diagnosis of mental illness is almost a civic right, i.e.

Dementia: A Survey of the Syndrome of Dementia

<p>The purpose of this book is to acknowledge the universality of depression, to throw some light on those aspects of depression which are neglected in the more conventional treatments of the subject and also to attempt to provide a synthesis between the biological and socio-environmental factors which lead to the onset of depression and modify its course. A book devoted to depression has the advantage that it has the space at its disposal to explain and clarify concepts and promising ideas that a chapter in even a comprehensive textbook does not have. A single author writing about all the relevant aspects of a subject brings with him the merit of uniformity, continuity and lack of repetition. He is also more fallible in some areas than others, which finds an exact parallel in the experience of clinicians in their practice. A multi-author, multi-specialist work portrays an air of omniscience and omnicompetence which many clinicians find dispiriting. It is likely a considerable number of practising clinicians will have a greater knowledge and experience in some areas of the subject of this book. than I have and will feel emboldened to approach others. The entire work is informed by historical considerations. The lesson of history is to be open-minded and not to judge too harshly those that have gone before.</p>

Depression: The disorder and its associations

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Springer

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Books by B. Mahendra