Seniors Dealing With Depression

Depression has become a major problem in the lives of the elderly. It has been estimated that 33 to 35 million people are likely to become a victim of depression at some point in their life with a large number of those being the elderly. It is a disease that has no regards for race, gender or economic levels. Elderly women are at the greatest to have major depression and the episodes occur twice as often in women. Depression isn’t normal.

A lot of factors can cause depression such as the loss of a loved one, having to retire, medical bills, serious illness, not being able to drive, being alone and not being able to get out and do the things that you could do as a younger person. Depression not only affects our emotions, it affects our behavior, our thinking and our physical health. Elderly people already suffer from loss of memory so adding the extra stress with depression is very frustrating. Physicians can’t explain why a person that has depression has aches and pains that keep returning.

If the depression continues for a long period of time, the person needs to seek help from a psychotherapist. They can determine if the patient is suffering from clinical depression or psychological, which can be treated with counseling or psychotherapy. Without help, elderly people that suffer from clinical depression can turn to suicide. The family or caregiver of the elderly need to be aware of changes in behavior. If the symptoms last longer than two weeks, a trip to the doctor is in order. Some symptoms to watch for are the lack of energy, thinking about death or suicide, attempting to commit suicide, being irritable, no appetite, losing weight or gaining weight.