In an older adults with dementia-related behavioral symptoms refractory to nonpharmacological management in whom you are starting SSRI, do you ever consider a short course of antipsychotic medication to overlap with the initiation of SSRI while waiting for therapeutic effect?

The American Geriatric Society recommends that antipsychotics may be considered when behaviors do not respond to non-pharmacological management and the patient is at risk of harming themselves or others. Thereby, it may be reasonable to overlap short-term antipsychotic with SSRI initiation in older ...