A training programme involving automatic self-transcending meditation in late-life depression: preliminary analysis of an ongoing randomised controlled trial.

: Late-life depression affects 2-6% of seniors aged 60 years and above. Patients are increasingly embracing non-pharmacological therapies, many of which have not been scientifically evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate a category of meditation, automatic self-transcending meditation (ASTM), in alleviating symptoms of depression when augmenting treatment as usual (NCT02149810). The preliminary results of an ongoing single-blind randomised controlled trial comparing a training programme involving ASTM with a wait-list control indicate that a 12-week ASTM programme may lead to significantly greater reductions in depression and anxiety severity. As such, ASTM may be an effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of late-life depression. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: R.I.N. is Director of Research and Health Promotion for the Art of Living Foundation, Canada and supervised the staff providing ASTM training. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence

Is the Concept of Delirious Mania Valid in the Elderly? A Case Report and a Review of the Literature

Delirious mania has been well recognized in the published literature and in the clinic. Over the years there has been refinement of understanding of its clinical features, course, and treatment. The literature suggests that delirious mania should be considered in individuals who present with a constellation of sudden onset delirium, mania, and psychosis. However, delirious mania is not recognized under a formal classification system nor are there any formal guidelines for its treatment. We, as such, question if the concept of delirious mania in the elderly is valid. We present a case of an elderly man with marked features of delirium with minimal manic or psychotic features who had a previous diagnosis of bipolar I disorder. On thorough clinical assessments no identifiable cause of his delirium was found. We therefore considered his presentation to be more likely due to delirious mania. Electroconvulsive therapy was considered and offered to which he responded very well. We invite the reader to consider whether delirious mania is a valid concept in the elderly, where features of delirium may be more prominent than manic or psychotic features