Depression is one of the most
common morbidity and mortality in the world and it becomes particularly undiagnosed and untreated when it comes to be treated in the elderly. This is because the common symptoms of
Depression in
elderly are so distinctive than those in adults. A lay man would define depression as an unusual state of mind , something abnormal or may be something related to a mental status Commonly observed as hyper or hypo activity in the adult subjects However in adults it is a challenge for the doctors to diagnose it correctly and to treat them with the best medicines This has been rated as the one of the highest mortality disease in the Western countries because here the elderly (those above 65 yrs of age) are living alone , working for themselves alone or are instituitionalized. There are very few to take care of them and mostly they have a pitiful moral and social life. To me the most common symptoms of depression in elderly seems to be either of the two that is Imarpied cognition .. a flight of thoughts or random thoughts , not able to focus or concentrate And Loss of memory i.e Dementia This can even lead to the milder Insomnia or to a Worse Alzheimer’s Disease. According to the findings depression is common in elderly because they get cerebrally insufficient in their
later stages of life .ofcourse thers a neuronal degeneration going on which can be deleterious. Now the social ethics counts for the worst part here because we usually feel irritated when our elders ask us about something that has been already answered to them a few minutes back , or to do something again and again for them , or when we donot have time to sit and listen to what they
say as we believe that whatever they think and say is a part of their
age and that is not at all important to us … this might be even true at times BUT probably we are the ones making them realize tht they are going into the later phases of their age where they can easily see their bodies detoriating This frustration is a boaster dose to their depression. Moreover every antidepressant or antipsychotic cant be given to them because at the same time they may be renally or hepatically or even by both compromised and Drugs are excreted and metabolized by both or any one of these routes . so the selection range gets further narrower. The matter of thought is give them a word of care, a word of sympathy, share a little of your world to them May be you can give them a palliative treatment at this stage of their lives But yes don’t forget to carry on their medications!
More summaries about the "Depression in Elderly"