What causes depression in elderly

What is the best depression medication for the elderly? Is life expectancy associated with depression in the elderly? What causes cognitive decline in the elderly? Clinical depression in the elderly is common.

Late-life depression affects about million Americans ages and older.

But only receive treatment for depression. Geriatric depression is a mental and emotional disorder affecting older adults. Feelings of sadness and occasional blue” moods are normal. However, lasting depression is not a typical part of.

It is a common but serious mood disorder that needs treatment. Depression is more than just feeling sad or blue. It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, and working.

It’s important to develop a comprehensive treatment program that addresses a person’s risk factors and causes of depression. A person with depression cannot simply “snap out of it”—it is a medical condition that affects your quality of life. New research shows that men with depression view their condition in a. The good news is that, in most cases, depression is treatable in older adults. Despite a lower overall percentage of depressed elders, when compared with their younger counterparts, the expected increasing numbers of seniors point to an even greater necessity for health professionals to be aware of the specialized needs of elders.

To help the elderly person with depression, you need to know the general signs of depression in elderly and understand the causes of depression in older adults. Many of the usual symptoms of depression may be seen. Common symptoms such as fatigue, appetite loss, and trouble sleeping can be part of the aging process or a physical illness. As a result, early depression may be ignore or confused with other conditions that are common in older adults. The fact that elderliness is accepted as a property of depressive symptoms both by the relatives of the patients and doctors is one of the factors which make it difficult.

And if this is the case, symptoms are likely to persist until they receive proper treatment. Many older individuals will not admit to signs and symptoms of depression for. As a result, effective treatment often gets delaye forcing many elderly people unnecessarily struggle with depression.

While most people experience periods of sadness at times, depression is a treatable medical condition. WebMD explains the signs of depression in your aging loved one and different treatment options.

Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression , it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. In older adults, those who had depression when they were younger are more at risk to develop depression later in life. It can affect anyone at almost any age, but the reasons some people become depressed are not always known. Researchers suspect there are actually many different causes of depression and that it is not always preventable. Factors that can contribute to depression include.

Causes and risk factors of depression in older people The fact that at least half of older adults who present with depression have no previous history, suggests that different pathological mechanisms may be involved compared to in those who have experienced depression earlier in life. This may reflect that elderly people with depression may exhibit less symptoms than younger people with depresson. The incidence of depression has been reported to increaseor be unaffected by age. Any number of life events, situations, chronic diseases and medication can contribute to depression.

Signs of depression in the elderly are often the same signs that correlate with depression at any age. Unfortunately, they can be hard to recognize as signs of depression for a variety of reasons, one being that many of these symptoms can be attributed to the natural processes of aging. A number of issues can cause chronic constipation—from those that make the stool move too slowly to those that prevent it from being eliminated effectively, leading to hard and dry stool.

The risk of suicide is a serious concern among elderly patients with depression. Treatment solutions will be tailored to your specific case since causes and symptoms of depression can vary. Exercise, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and sticking with a routine can help keep. This means that the main focus of nursing intervention in nursing homes for the elderly should be to prevention or reduction of depression levels among their clients.

However older adults are at an increased risk for experiencing depression. If you are concerned about a loved one, offer to go with him or her to see a health care provider to be diagnosed and treated. The mortality rate for elderly men and women suffering from both depression and feelings of loneliness is higher than for those who are report satisfaction with their lives.

Treatment programs for depressed elderly patients suffering from cardiovascular disease and other major illnesses usually take longer than normal, and are less successful.