In the most recently revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2022), psychosis is indicated as a cluster of “psychotic features” which generally include a loss of touch with reality, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, specific behaviors, and negative symptoms such as blunted affect, alogia, and avolition (American Psychiatric Association, 2022; World Health Organization, 1992). Late-onset psychosis, defined by the onset of a psychotic episode after the age of 40 (Howard et al., 2000), is more prevalent than many would guess and causes significant distress to those afflicted and their caregivers.
Current estimates suggest that older adults have a 23% risk of developing psychotic symptoms in their lifetime (Reinhardt & Cohen, 2015). This does not typically include mild cases of psychosis that are easily missed or patients in nursing homes and hospitals, because these individuals are not usually included in population surveys. Individuals who develop psychosis in late life outnumber those who had longstanding, early-onset psychotic disorders and aged into late adulthood (Tampi et al., 2021). Psychosis in late life is also associated with elevated morbidity and mortality (Talaslahti et al., 2015).
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