geriatric psychiatrist - recommendations in Northern Virginia or DC

[Anonymous]

We are looking for recommendations for an excellent geriatric psychiatrist in Northern Virginia or DC. We think we're dealing with psychotic depression that is masquerading as dementia in elderly family member and need someone very smart to look at the whole picture and advise. Thanks for any help.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a good neurologist? Has an MRI been done or some sort of brain scan? Is there a history of psychotic depression prior to aging? How old is the person? Have meds been tried? if so, what meds and what happened?

I have been down this route and I think we mated a lot of time going from doctor to doctor. What mattered was finding the right meds so the elder could function and have decent quality of life. It took years for the Alzheimers diagnosis to be clear as day, but I don't think it matters whether early on it was in our case extreme anxiety to the point of paranoia or the beginning stages of Alzeimers where the person passes the screening tests. We were told the meds are the same. You treat the symptoms you see.

In our case the person had a history of anxiety and even occasional paranoid tendencies when stressed, but because the person was aging in place, she was not forced into social situations where she both had to use good social skills, but could receive the support and input needed from peers to remain mentally stable. Once on meds she could finally agree to move to a setting where she could have a social life again and it all came together for a while-making friends, boosted mood, getting immediate negative feedback from peers when she was too needy, demanding or volatile. She was at a place where when needed she could then go to the memory care and it wasn't a huge transition/stress.

[Anonymous]

Wasted not mated LOL!

[Anonymous]

It might be easier and faster to get an initial evaluation from a neurologist who sees a lot of elderly patients. They will rule out or rule a bunch of disorders and can make a recommendation for a psychiatrist. For an elderly person, I find it's for efficient to start with a neurologist.