Elderly Depression

Depression is more common in the elderly than in any other age group, affecting 20% of those living in the community and 40% of those who are living in care homes, according to the Mental Health Foundation statistics on mental health. Older people are less likely to complain of feeling sad or of having low moods and instead, will often complain of physical aches and pains. It can be difficult to diagnose depression in elderly people because the physical symptoms will often accompany other medical conditions and many will attribute any aches and pains either to illness or will consider them a natural part of growing old and not as a result of any underlying depression.

Elderly people with depression may be delayed in proper and effective treatment by doctors due to their transformation in certain situations and the very fact that they are expected to slow down. Even the family members may not rightly understand them. This leads to further suffering which could have been easily treated during initial stages.

When older people start to feel more "down" or "blue" than normal, it is advisable to seek treatment. Relatives or caregivers of old people should seek consultation with a mental health professional once signs of depression such as social withdrawal, changes in eating/sleeping habits, chronic bouts of sadness and thoughts about death or dying are manifested. Also, depression can aggravate other illness experienced by the elderly or it can delay recovery. Despite all these issues associated with elderly depression, there are many available treatments for depression among this group.

Most of the time, depression in the elderly is related to either disability or dependency (or both). In today's fast paced world it's not any surprise that family members and even professionals caring for medical needs of the elderly easily miss subtle signs of depression.

Without fast treatment, it can lead to suicidal tendencies on part of the patient or death from premature heart attack, stroke and other serious diseases. ne group known to be at risk from depression in the elderly include widowed women. Others at high risk are those not being able to cope with stress in their lives. Low self-confidence due to diseases like cancer and loss of limb causing disfigurement can easily lead to depression. Many elderly may have a family history of depression and get depressed due to apprehension of dying. Some elderly may have an addiction to alcohol or drugs contributing to their depression.

A big part of the aging population suffers from some kind of physical condition and therefore takes medication for it. These drugs may be needed to maintain normal daily functioning however, some of these meds may have side effects that could cause or worsen depression. There are some medicines for pain relief, for lowering blood pressure and for controlling anxiety that have depression as a common side effect. Other drugs that have this effect are heart medications, hormones, anticancer agents, antipsychotic agents, medication for the control of Parkinson's disease and for arthritis.

Bereavement would be the most dramatic for all of us, but other causes of isolation, such as our children getting married or their moving to another part of the country, or our re-housing away from a familiar neighbourhood, are examples that can cause disquiet.

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