Many people believe that once the elderly are slow in reaction and memory, they will suffer from dementia. The chief physician of the Fourth People's Hospital in Hefei, Anhui Province, said: "In fact, when the symptoms of geriatric depression are serious, some of the symptoms will be similar to Alzheimer's, so early identification is important." Pay attention to distinguish between "false dementia and true depression". The doctor said that geriatric depression includes two situations: one refers to the first onset of depression after the age of 65; The other is that they have suffered from depression in adulthood. After treatment or self relief, they will attack again in old age. Some patients with geriatric depression may be unresponsive and have poor memory when their symptoms are serious, which is clinically called depressive pseudodementia. This kind of patient has an acute onset, typical depression symptoms such as depression. After regular treatment, the memory can also return to normal after the mood improves. The onset of dementia is slow, the symptoms are persistent, and there are no typical symptoms of depression. Even if their mood improves, their memory is not ideal, and even gradually worsens, and then they develop to typical dementia symptoms. In order to protect brain function, it is recommended that anyone who suspects that his memory is declining or those around him find that his memory is significantly declining, regardless of whether they suspect anxiety and depression, sleep disorders, psychological problems, or Alzheimer's disease, can go to the memory clinic for consultation. Elderly depression is often associated with somatic symptoms. Doctors say that depression has three core symptoms. One is low mood. The symptoms of some elderly patients can be expressed as loneliness and always need the company of their relatives. The second is the decline of interest, which means that they are no longer interested in the things they were originally interested in. On the surface, some patients can still adhere to daily activities, but if they carefully ask about their subjective experience, they will feel that they are reluctant to adhere to it, and have no positive emotions such as past happiness and sense of achievement. The third symptom is lack of energy. Patients often feel listless, tired and weak, always lying in bed, even silent and refusing to eat when serious. Elderly depression is also often associated with physical symptoms, such as sleep disorder, anorexia, and general discomfort (such as headache, palpitation, chest tightness, skin burning, etc.), but most of them have no obvious abnormalities in hospital inspection. Antidepressants have side effects. Some patients are very worried about the side effects of antidepressants. Although antidepressant instructions list a lot of side effects, they do not happen to everyone. The side effects of most antidepressants will be alleviated with the prolongation of medication time. After 1 to 2 weeks of medication, the discomfort will be relieved slowly; After 2 to 4 weeks of medication, the positive therapeutic effect of the drug gradually appeared, and the side effects were further alleviated. Doctors will give patients small doses of drugs at the initial stage, and then slowly increase the drug dose. This method can improve the patient's tolerance to side effects. As for the drugs that can cause fatigue and drowsiness, such as mirtazapine and paroxetine, doctors will instruct patients to take them before going to bed, which can help patients sleep while reducing side effects. At the same time, taking medicine after meals can also reduce the gastrointestinal side effects of the drug. Remind everyone: Don't stop taking medicine without permission because of side effects, so as to avoid aggravating the disease and developing into "difficult to treat"