Depression Not A Normal Part of Aging

Identifying symptoms of depression in elderly individuals is often overlooked. This phenomenon has a couple probable explanations. In general, elderly folks themselves are less educated to the signs and symptoms of depression (or any mental health condition for that matter) and many have chronic medical conditions that they tend to explain in primarily medical terms. So, when these folks seek healthcare treatment, it is usually a result of a physical manifestation of symptoms described in a very medical manner. Also, their medical physician may be responding to and focusing exclusively on the medical/biological reasons for their distress and providing treatment for those disease processes only. In addition, the medical community is only beginning to understand and recognize mental health disorders and those symptoms as a co-occurring health process for their elderly patients. Additionally, many elderly persons have few or limited natural supports. It is fair to say that in those cases where a depression process is identified, it becomes evident due to the awareness of family or close friends. Often it is these support persons that urge or assist the elderly patient to more directly address the depression itself.

Some may argue that older adults just normally develop symptoms of depression as they age but clinical research does not support that assumption. Depression afflicts individuals of all ages and is not a disease specific to the elderly population. It is expected that as the medical community becomes more and more educated to the signs and symptoms of depression in the elderly, more accurate diagnoses and effective treatment interventions with emerge. Review the NIMH article regarding this topic for more detailed signs and symptoms of depression in elderly folks, Depression in Older Adults

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