No abstract

The authors present the case of a 68-year-old lady with a 35-year history of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) type I, who developed frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Description of the psychopathology is illustrated with examples of patient's writings in order to demonstrate cognitive abilities at different stages. The diagnosis is supported by MRI and SPECT scans. The authors discuss the difficulties in differentiating the clinical presentation of chronic BPAD and FTD and examine the evidence for two important questions: Is there a relationship between BPAD and FTD and is there a relationship between lithium and risk of dementia? This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported SPECT scan finding in a case of frontotemporal dementia following chronic bipolar affective disorder.

The paper presents a solution to the challenge of recording nuanced clinical information in electronic patient records in an efficient way.

In the Covid-19 pandemic, digital social connections have taken on a new level of significance. Building on our previous work, we propose a decentralised service model for a digital resilience network (DRN) which enables people with mental and physical illness as well as those experiencing adverse social events to align themselves, provide peer support, share and access resources. The model has five domains: Biopsychosocial, geographical, technological, information and rule domains. Each application of the model can be described using the five domain descriptors and can thereby function as an index which can allow the individual to navigate the networks according to their individual circumstances.

This is a report of an 81-year-old woman presenting with hearing improvement after a reduction of antidepressant medication to manage a manic episode. The patient reported a subjective improvement in her hearing ability, not confirmed by audiometric testing. It was reported to us that she stopped using her hearing aids subsequently. This case highlights the potential for medications to impact hearing and the importance of monitoring for side effects in elderly patients with mood disorders.