Presentation
Patients may present due to a range of reasons. Recognizing these will allow for earlier management of this high-mortality condition.Case presentation61-year Caucasian female known with bipolar 1 disorder presented with manic symptoms. [semanticscholar.org]
Brian Misiaszek, McMaster University Presenter(s): Dr. [brainxchange.ca]
We report a case of Diogenes syndrome presenting with dermatitis passivata. [e-ijd.org]
Results and Conclusions: We describe the clinical case of a 90-year-old man which presented with a 5-year history of progressive behavioral changes. [morressier.com]
The authors found that ill individuals presented normal intelligence or above the average. In 50% of the cases, no psychiatric disorder was found. 13 The patient was a theologian, polyglot and did not present evidence of other psychiatric disorders. [ggaging.com]
Entire Body System
- Falling
They do this primarily by helping the individual recreate social bonds, and by keeping them from falling back into their tendency to accumulate objects and rubbish. In some cases, psychiatric help is necessary. [gentside.co.uk]
It is often by chance, such as when an emergency occurs (e.g., a fall or a fire) or when a family member or neighbour notices odours coming from the person’s house. 5 Case law – civil matters Outside of Quebec, only a handful of reported legal cases in [cnpea.ca]
Patients with Diogenes syndrome often fall into the latter category, and their hoarding situation can be one of the most severe. The disorder is most prevalent in people of high intelligence at or beyond middle age. [hoarders911.com]
After all, excessive cleanliness is equally regarded as pathological, and falls into anal-retentive or obsessive-compulsive categories. Can clutter seriously be a psychological condition? The answer is yes, when it gets out of control. [irishtimes.com]
These conditions often lead to illnesses like pneumonia, or accidents like falls or fires. It is often through these situations that the person’s condition first becomes known. [healthline.com]
- Malnutrition
Often seniors with this condition will have a very poor diet as well, maybe even suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. [countyhealthcareguide.com]
Self-neglect may present itself through poor hygiene, torn clothes, untreated sores, or malnutrition, while domestic neglect may be seen in dirty dishes, unclean furniture, dust build-up, and mold. S ocial Withdrawal. [visitingangels.com]
Warning symptoms in an undiagnosed person may include: skin rashes caused by poor hygiene, fleas, or lice matted, unkempt hair overgrown toenails and fingernails body odor unkempt appearance unexplained injuries malnutrition dehydration The person’s home [healthline.com]
8.9 g/dL [12-16 g/dL]), low hematocrit level (26.4% [37-47%]), low serum iron level (16 g/dL [35-175 g/dL]), and upper-normal iron-binding capacity (389 g/dL [250-400 g/dL]), suggesting that the patient had iron deficiency anemia possibly due to malnutrition [consultant360.com]
The symptoms of Diogenes syndrome may include: Lack of personal grooming, self-care, and cleanliness Hoarding behavior Lack of interest in cleaning or maintaining the home Obsessive-compulsive behaviors and tendencies Detachment, social isolation Malnutrition [altamirarecovery.com]
- Collapse
The severe neglect that they bring on themselves usually results in physical collapse or mental breakdown. [youtube.com]
[…] syndrome can be tricky, but left unchecked the situation can become dangerous — homes that are very cluttered can pose a threat to the physical, mental and social well-being of the occupants and a risk to the neighbours if the problem causes structural collapse [europarl.europa.eu]
Of the handful of people with DS who are found dead each year in Spain, some die of starvation or illness, while others are sometimes buried alive when the garbage they amass collapses on top of them. [elpais.com]
Psychiatrical
- Social Isolation
Diogenes syndrome: a behavioral disorder that occurs in elderly people characterized by living in squalor, unhygienic living conditions, self-neglect, social isolation, lack of shame, and hoarding. [medicinenet.com]
Warning Sign #1- Social Isolation This condition is characterized by isolation, in which the senior completely withdraws from life and society. The senior will avoid social situations and other people, which brings them great anxiety. [countyhealthcareguide.com]
Eighteen elders (aged 65 and over) fulfilled the classical symptoms of Diogenes syndrome (extreme squalor, neglected physical state, unhygienic condition & social isolation with or without hoarding). [dovepress.com]
It is also characterised by social isolation, the rejection of any kind of help and neglect of one’s bodily and domestic hygiene. [europarl.europa.eu]
In general, social isolation, loneliness, grief, and a history of mental illness are also risk factors for substance use disorders. For example, widowers over the age of 75 have the highest rates of alcoholism of any group. [altamirarecovery.com]
- Behavior Disorder
From Wikidata Jump to navigation Jump to search behavioral disorder notably characterized by extreme self-neglect and compulsive hoarding edit English Diogenes syndrome behavioral disorder notably characterized by extreme self-neglect and compulsive hoarding [wikidata.org]
Diogenes syndrome: a behavioral disorder that occurs in elderly people characterized by living in squalor, unhygienic living conditions, self-neglect, social isolation, lack of shame, and hoarding. [medicinenet.com]
Seniors with this condition might not realize how they’ve progressed into such behaviors, which is often the case with those who have any type of behavioral disorder. [medium.com]
[…] dementia Social behavior disorders Mental illness Issue Date: 2013-12 Publisher: Malta College of Family Doctors Citation: Malta College of Family Doctors. 2013, Vol.2(3), p. 29-31 Abstract: Diogenes Syndrome is a syndrome of extreme selfneglect, domestic [um.edu.mt]
Background: DS is a behavioral disorder characterized by severe self-neglect. In addition, the syndrome is characterized by domestic squalor, social withdrawal, syllogomania, and refusal of help that may be precipitated by stressful events. [morressier.com]
- Compulsive Behavior
Voxel-based morphometry in patients with obsessive-compulsive behaviors in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. Eur J Neurol. 2012 ;19(6): 911 – 917. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI 32. Iaccarino, L, Chieffi, S, Iavarone, A. [journals.sagepub.com]
DS may result from the combination of frontal lobe deficits which is manifested by decreased concern for personal care and decluttering their environment, compulsive behavior, and disinhibition of responsiveness to environmental items of interest. [morressier.com]
In certain cases, they have managed to persuade their partner or a member of their family to enter into the same compulsive behavior. [elpais.com]
Several studies have utilized selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to treat the compulsive hoarding behaviors. Atypical antipsychotic agents have been used when paranoid symptoms are present. [consultant360.com]
The symptoms of Diogenes syndrome may include: Lack of personal grooming, self-care, and cleanliness Hoarding behavior Lack of interest in cleaning or maintaining the home Obsessive-compulsive behaviors and tendencies Detachment, social isolation Malnutrition [altamirarecovery.com]
- Fear
However, this pathological hoarding may also function to protect the against fears associated with meeting people, thereby avoiding any possible intimacy and promoting self-exclusion in an anti- aim. [pep-web.org]
Social support Withdrawal from society and a fear of medical and other institutions can make it hard to help a person with Diogenes syndrome. [medicalnewstoday.com]
People who hoard may believe objects are more trustworthy than people, and fear neediness which may arise from early infant emotional or physical deprivation. [irishtimes.com]
- Delusion
Although the patient was suspicious, guarded, and evasive, she did not display any distinct delusions or hallucinations that would suggest a diagnosis of delusional disorder or late-life schizophrenia. Ms. [consultant360.com]
Twelve Diogenes subjects had psychotic disorders: schizophrenia (F20; n = 2), schizotypal disorder (F21; n = 1), delusion disorder (F22; n = 8) and other psychotic disorder (F28; n = 1). [jarcp.com]
Neurologic
- Agitation
Resistance gets stronger for senile persons with dementia, who may become confused and more agitated. Sneaky techniques are ethically questionable, and so are not attempted. [shieldmysenior.com]
- Confusion
Stendhal Syndrome Stendhal syndrome is characterized by physical and emotional anxiety up to the level of a panic attack, dissociative experiences, confusion, and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art. [medscape.com]
It’s critical to stay compassionate, even when the elderly lash out as a result of their confusion—they simply can’t control themselves. [shieldmysenior.com]
Treatment
Treatment and Prognosis for Addiction and Diogenes Syndrome There are special factors involved when providing mental health and drug and alcohol treatment for elderly patients. [altamirarecovery.com]
More often than not, a multidimensional approach is followed for the treatment. [psychologenie.com]
Their doctor will decide how to work with the individual and their family to help come up with a treatment plan. It’s possible to recover from Diogenes syndrome. The help and support of others is an important part of a treatment plan. [healthline.com]
There is no specific surefire treatment for Diogenes Syndrome. However, if you know someone who has it, you should get them into an adult care facility as soon as possible. [goldenplacements.com]
You could bring a geriatric care manager in to consult, or set up a flexible outpatient treatment that includes counseling and cleaning services. [hammerle.com]
Prognosis
The prognosis is also poor, with 46% of the patients having a 5-year mortality rate, possibly due to physical complications. 14 OUTCOME OF THE CASE PATIENT Unfortunately, Ms. G refused follow-up care and had no further contact with the hospital. [consultant360.com]
Diogenes Syndrome Prognosis and Treatment Options There are a few tactics for treating senior hoarding and squalor. The most effective tactic is to remove the senior from the conditions of squalor and place them into a supervised living facility. [shieldmysenior.com]
Treatment and Prognosis for Addiction and Diogenes Syndrome There are special factors involved when providing mental health and drug and alcohol treatment for elderly patients. [altamirarecovery.com]
[…] alteration of executive functions can explain the simplification of complex tasks, such as maintenance of washing. 45 A possible link with frontal lobe dementia has been questioned due to the younger age of onset of this type of dementing disease. 21, 46 The prognosis [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Etiology
The plausible psychological etiologies are discussed in the context of existential values in Chinese culture and changes in traditional family dynamics as the society modernizes. [dovepress.com]
The main etiological hypotheses are: (1) the condition represents the "end-stage" of a personality disorder; (2) the syndrome is a manifestation of a frontal-lobe dementia; (3) DS may be an end stage of the hoarding subtype of OCD; (4) DS may be a final [scielo.br]
[…] squalor have focused on elderly populations recruited from nursing or disability services…These studies initially suggested that those living in squalor were likely to be over the age of 60, primarily female, living alone and unmarried…Hypotheses on the etiology [psychologytoday.com]
The objectives of the present study were to look for the most appropriate appellation, the frequency of clinical symptoms, the underlying associated diseases, and to investigate a possible central etiology. [jarcp.com]
The syndrome is etiologically complex, and psychiatric and/or neurological comorbidities may be present, but not necessarily so. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Epidemiology
[…] predictors of mortality in this population, including comorbidity. 12 Miss Havisham from Dickens' Great Expectations might be a better example of the syndrome, 13 but even more convincing descriptions can be found in Nikolaj Gogol's novel, Dead Souls. 14 Epidemiology [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Prevention
Efforts should be made to prevent the condition from worsening to such an extent that compulsory action is required due to the risks posed by the hoarding of garbage and domestic squalor. [psychologenie.com]
Lack of standardized instruments to measure squalor have prevented researchers from understanding squalor in compulsive hoarding”. Dr. [psychologytoday.com]
A concrete approach to home safety, including preventing additional clutter, establishing a cleaning plan, discarding objects, and organizing the living space, have been successful over time in assisting older adults in regaining a sense of control over [consultant360.com]
[…] or physically incapacitated, is living in unsanitary conditions AND the person is unable to devote to himself and is not receiving from other persons proper care and attention AND his removal from home is necessary either in his own interests or for preventing [themaskedamhp.blogspot.com]
Compassion will be in short supply, but try to remember that hoarders suffer from a neurological condition which prevents them from remembering, planning, assessing, and executing actions effectively. They aren’t playing with a full deck. [shieldmysenior.com]