Schizophrenia

Is it possible for a 80 year old man to develop schizophrenia? Over the past 6-8 months my father has developed delusions and hallunations. At first we thought it might be Alzheimers but his doctor said he felt it was schizophrenia and the dementia was making it more apparent. Has anyone heard of a older person developing at this late age? Could it had been "hidden" all these year?

Hi,

I haven't heard of any case of SZ developing, for the first time, at 80 years old. I've heard of the term "dementia-related psychosis" and if a person has that, the antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia are not used to treat dementia-related psychosis because they can lead to death. Dementia and Alzheimer's could possibly be two different conditions unless I'm mistaken. You would know if your loved one had SZ all these years by reading the Schizophrenia Basics information on this web site, and seeing if the symptoms match his life history.

At this point, I would carefully question whatever drug treatment is prescribed so that if a drug is prescribed, you can make an informed choice.

Regards,
Christina