Geriatric vs. Regular psychiatrist

MarDel0917

I don't want to sound cruel or that I don't care. My bf (44yo) was referred to a geriatric psychiatrist to help with "the man in the mirror... his reflection in general" the closest gery psych is almost 45 mins away. My question is, is there truely a difference between a regular psychiatrist and a geriatric psychiatrist aside form the fact that the gery psych has training with this disease?

We are all in this together 💜

M1

Yes, unfortunately, there is. Doubt if a regular psychiatrist had the necessary drug expertise he's going to need. I would make that 45 minute drive.

charley0419

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/207973#Comment_207973

when do you need a Geriatric ? At what point is it time ??

harshedbuzz

I would make the drive. You want the specialist with the most experience managing the psychoactive meds for a person with dementia.

Dad's psych was about that far away. It was worth the drive for us.

HB

easy23

Check to see if the geripsych does telehealth.

M1

the geriatric designation has little to do with age and more to do with dementia expertise. I can't imagine that telehealth would work however—-the doc needs to be able to observe the PWD directly, at least initially. Maybe it might work for follow up visits?

midge333

My DW sees a geriatric psychiatrist. First visit was in person but her second visit was virtual. Seemed to work ok.

JJgirl

A good Geripsych is the best friend a Dementia family can have! Wish I had known this earlier on. The management of meds is crucial for both the patient and the caretaker. Meds need to continually be tweaked as the disease progresses but a good Geripsych recognizes the behavior changes and know exactly which meds to try in order to manage the changes.