clinical depression leads to paranoia delusion ?

Question

My Mom was diagnosed w/ clinical depression several months back. She is 73 yrs old. Her common sense reasoning seems to be partially impaired - for instance, in a nursing home, after dinner, she said that she is responsible for collecting all the dirty dishes and put them into the kitchen and that she is responsible for the welfare for all the other people in the nursing home....

Does this kind of delusion related to clinical depression or this is something else ?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Severe clinical depression can be associated with paranoid delusions; however, given her age, dementia is a possibility. I would have her physician do a complete workup including blood work and chem panels to rule out any reversible medical causes (e.g., medication imbalance, high/low salt levels etc). Also, a neuropsychological examination would be helpful in assessing for the presence of dementia, which is a primary memory disorder.

Answer 2

Clinical Depression in and of itself does not present with paranoid delusions. She probably has something else going on. Sounds like she was diagnosed with a tentative diag. will need follow up with a psychiatrist. Alot of times a Therapist will do that in order to start treatment but change the diag. later once they have more observation and assessment time.

Answer 3

I am not an expert but having worked both in a psychiatric hospital and a nursing home I would guess that there are other issues beside depression.

Answer 4

Could be dementia.