Geriatric psychiatry is a medical subspecialty focused on preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental and emotional disorders in older adults. Specialists address complex issues like late-life depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and neurocognitive conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia, while carefully managing medication interactions and coexisting physical health issues.
The aging body processes medication differently. Changes in metabolism, liver function and kidney function can make older adults more sensitive to medications and more susceptible to side effects and dangerous drug interactions.
When prescribing psychiatric medication safely to seniors, we follow the principle of “start low and go slow.” Expertise is crucial in managing “polypharmacy” (the use of multiple medications at once), ensuring that a new prescription will not negatively interact with existing ones and that the treatment improves quality of life without adding a new layer of problems.