Brief Answer:
Its depression with psychotic symptoms
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. Your mother seems to be suffering from Severe Depressive Episode with Psychotic symptoms. With the age at 63 years, even dementia could be a possible diagnosis which needs to be evaluated further.
One thing is for sure that she will certainly require
medical help and I probably require admission as well. But I understand your problem that you are not able to convince her in getting to the hospital. The best way is by proper communication and explanation. This is best done by a therapist who can talk to her, but if you cannot find anyone who can visit your home. But if that is not possible then you can try from your side. Ask her how her life was 10 years ago. And then ask her how it is now. Ask her why does she feel that things have changed? Ask her if she feels that could depression be a possibility in causing the symptoms for her? If so, then is there anything wrong in seeking help? Give her a choice of which doctor she wants to see and and at which city? You may even use a paper and pen while you are discussing these issues.
Depression can occur with regular stress and it can also occur biologically without any stress as well. She will need proper treatment for the same. There are various effective therapies for depression like
fluoxetine,
venlafaxine, bupropion,
mirtazapine or escitalopram and they are all very effective and mostly safe. She may also require some benzodiazepines like
clonazepam or lorazepam for a short period like 2-3 weeks to reduce the anxiety and help with your sleep.
If she is averse to the drug therapies then there is also an option of cognitive behavioural therapy. This therapy is taken by either a
psychologist or a
psychiatrist in which the therapist identifies impaired cognitions (Thoughts) and try to correct them. They are 15-20 min weekly session and there should be around 8-10 sessions to help her with her illness.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy
Wish you good health,
Kind regards
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
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