Diogenes syndrome refers to a condition with distinct self hoarding behaviours, severe self-neglect, filthy personal appearance and surroundings and social isolation. A broad range of co-morbidities exist, from Parkinson’s disease and frontal lobe dementia to learning disability, schizophrenia, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder amongst others. Recognition of the condition is importan...

Cessation of normal skin cleansing seen in geriatric or self-neglected patients can cause accumulation of keratinous crusts on the skin. In the extreme end of this spectrum is a condition known as Diogenes syndrome (DS). These patients may have psychiatric disorders like paranoid disorders, mood affection, or temporofrontal dementia. Subjects are mainly the elderly but few cases in younger age ...

We review a consecutive case series of elders presenting to a regional psychogeriatric service in Hong Kong in 1996-2001. Eighteen elders (aged 65 and over) fulfilled the classical symptoms of Diogenes syndrome (extreme squalor, neglected physical state, unhygienic condition & social isolation with or without hoarding). A diverse clinical and socio-demographic profile was observed. Most of our ...

Diogenes syndrome (DS) is a behavioral disorder of the elderly. Symptoms include living in extreme squalor, a neglected physical state, and unhygienic conditions. This is accompanied by a self-imposed isolation, the refusal of external help, and a tendency to accumulate unusual objects. To explore the phenomenon of DS in dementia we searched for the terms: "Diogenes syndrome, self-neglect, deme...