Late-life depression affects about 6 million Americans age 65 and older, but only 10% receive treatment. Depression in later life frequently coexists with other medical illnesses and disabilities. In addition, advancing age is often accompanied by loss of key social support systems due to the death of a spouse or siblings, retirement or relocation of residence. greatly diminishes a person's quality of life, personal joy and productivity. Frail elderly persons, the residents in assisted living facilities, too often experience depression.
People expect elderly folks to slow down. Often their circumstances also change, such as retirement. People may attribute an individual's changes to these things and may not realize that they're depressed. As a result, the individual's depression may be missed and treatment may come too late. Many seniors face dealing with these debilitating symptoms on their own, when help may have been available.
Elderly patients prone to depression often see that depression last longer than other patients. This poses a serious health risk as studies of nursing home patents with physical illness have revealed that the presence of depression greatly increased the likelihood of death from those illnesses. There is also an association between an increased risk of death following a heart attack with the presence of depression in the patient. This means that making sure that an elderly person you are concerned about is regularly evaluated. Treatment is important for even mild depression.
One of the greatest risks and problems stemming from symptoms of depression in the elderly is the risk of suicide. Elderly white males in the age bracket 80 to 84 are found to have a suicide rate that is twice that of the general population. This is an alarming statistic and the National Institute of Mental Health is doing in depth studies of why suicide among the over 65 age group has become such a major health problem. Early signs of symptoms of depression in the elderly are non-health related weight changes and changes in sleep.
Many common, long-term illnesses in the latter parts of life like diabetes, stroke, heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and arthritis can trigger depression. Suicide is also more common among older adults with depression than younger people with depression. Older individuals, aged 65 and older, account for 19% of all deaths by suicide. Elderly people with depression also will have roughly 50% higher health care costs than non-depressed seniors. are estimated to be nearly $22 billion a year.
Those who are most at risk of becoming depressed are single women (especially widows), those who lack a network of friends and supporters and leading a stressful life. While symptoms of depression in the elderly may be because of certain health problems like stroke or cancer or dementia, these same symptoms and disease can put a person at great risk for developing other illnesses, especially those involving the immune system.
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