Depression in the Elderly
Seventy-four year-old Mr Bryant - according to an article in PsychLink - suffered from advanced-onset diabetes along with chronic renal failure. Then he developed artery thrombosis and associated heart problems. Following cardiac arrest, he became uremic, and periontoneal dialysis was begun, out of which developed an arterovenous fistula and other complications.
"No one understands how sick I am," he complained.
One day he locked himself in the bathroom at home and took an entire bottle of insulin.
Mr Bryant had a lot to be depressed about, but his case is not necessarily normal. Contrary to popular belief, depression is not part of the normal aging process, and no, older people don't have a lot more to feel depressed about. In fact, senior citizens suffer from depression at about the same rate as the rest of the population (about fifteen percent), affecting some five to six million of the 33 million Americans over the age of 65.
But once the beast gains a firm foothold inside an older person's brain, it tends to take no prisoners. And after that happens, we can consider Mr Bryant all too depressingly normal.
About 70 to 80 percent of the depressed elderly go unspotted in primary care practice, their symptoms generally mistaken for other ailments. The depression itself tends to impede recovery from other illnesses and injuries, intensifying the pain and suffering of other medical problems, and creating a condition of hell on top of hell that all too often demands ultimate release.
It's one of those bitter facts of death that tend to get swept under the carpet: suicide in the elderly far exceeds the population as a whole. Amongst elderly white males, the suicide rate is six times the national average. Amazingly, 75 percent of these had seen a doctor within the last month. And as the baby boomer generation starts trading in their Walkmans for walkers, the overall statistics will go through the roof.
In the meantime, we are facing a public health problem of major proportions:
Symptoms of late-onset depression - which may include agitation, anxiety, and irritability - often differ from the rest of the population. They are often ignored or confused with Parkinson's or Alzhemer's - not to mention thyroid disorders or strokes or heart disease - or as a side effect of medication, which it sometimes is. Depression frequently co-occurs with these and other disorders, blending into the landscape of the victim's usual aches and pains, and tending to become difficult to spot.
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