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Abstract: 

Local police reported a 79-year old woman, Martha T., for self-neglect after she made numerous 911 calls seeking protection from “invaders” who lived in her attic. In responding to these calls, officers found no evidence of “invaders” or the “little people” that Mrs. T. claimed had taken over her attic and were stealing the natural gas that she used to heat her home. The officers believed the woman to be “harmless but deranged.” Upon learning that her gas had been shut off and she was without heat, they filed the APS report. They hoped that APS would be able to assist the woman, and also that through this assistance she would stop the repeated and problematic 911 calls. This article is a first-person account of a case illustrative of the problem of late onset mental illness among the elderly, and includes the outcome.

Keywords: late onset mental illness

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