Behavioural disturbances in the demented elderly: phenomenology, pharmacotherapy and behavioural management

Behavioural disturbances in the demented elderly cause a significant amount of distress both to the patients and their caregivers. This article first summarizes the phenomenology associated with these disturbances. It then deals with the pharmacological methods of reducing these disturbances. Finally, it deals with some of the more recent advances in combining the insights of behavioural modification with those of neuropsychology in finding non pharmacological methods of reducing problematic behaviours. It is stressed that a combination of the two approaches is most likely to be required, and most likely to be successful, in the individual case.