Paraphrenia

Paraphrenia is a mental disorder characterized by an organized system of paranoid delusions, with or without hallucinations, and without the deterioration of intellect or personality seen in schizophrenia. It differs from schizophrenia in having a lower hereditary occurrence, less premorbid maladjustment and a slower progression. Symptoms generally begin later in life, near the age of 60, and prevalence among the elderly is given as between 0.1 and 4 percent. It is not included in the DSM-5, and psychiatrists often diagnose such patients with atypical psychosis, delusional disorder or related late-life psychoses. In Russian psychiatric manuals it is treated as the last stage of paranoid schizophrenia. The word comes from Ancient Greek roots meaning beside and mind.