Depression In Older Adults
Depression is an issue in older adults that many people don’t realize. Becoming ornery, grumpy, and temperamental is not a normal part of aging. Unfortunately suicide can become a result of depression. This is something that is not commonly discussed and it’s becoming a more relevant problem in older adults. A younger adult committing suicide is discussed more and viewed as a more devastating loss than an older adult committing suicide. This problem needs to be looked at. It’s a devastating loss when anyone dies, but someone who has their whole life ahead of them is equally as sad as someone who has given their whole life to the world and thinks that they don’t deserve to be here anymore. Modern society does not do enough to address suicide
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We’ve discussed time and time again in class that it has this horrible stigma. In older generations I also think there needs to be more awareness for physicians. I think a lot of our problems are from providers not fulling understanding the physical, mental, emotion, spiritual, process of aging. We are handing out antidepressants to older adults who may not need them, what they need is a change in their environments and lives, and a correct diagnosis. A lot of illnesses that can come with age can have depressive like symptoms but that doesn’t mean that depression is the issue. If someone is becoming a victim to dementia it’s not hard to imagine why there are sad, they may be realizing that they aren’t as sharp as they once were, need more help, and have less independence. It’s important that those of us in the gerontology field keep advocating and keep pushing for them. We need to give them back their voice, let them know it’s ok to experience these feelings and that it’s also ok to discuss, it does not make them a weaker person. These people have dedicated their lives to the world and don’t see themselves as anyone different than they were 40/50 years ago. The end of life brings so many beautiful times that we don’t get until we age, we have to remind our older adults of that, aging isn’t bad, aging is beautiful. “The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd
We’ve discussed time and time again in class that it has this horrible stigma. In older generations I also think there needs to be more awareness for physicians. I think a lot of our problems are from providers not fulling understanding the physical, mental, emotion, spiritual, process of aging. We are handing out antidepressants to older adults who may not need them, what they need is a change in their environments and lives, and a correct diagnosis. A lot of illnesses that can come with age can have depressive like symptoms but that doesn’t mean that depression is the issue. If someone is becoming a victim to dementia it’s not hard to imagine why there are sad, they may be realizing that they aren’t as sharp as they once were, need more help, and have less independence. It’s important that those of us in the gerontology field keep advocating and keep pushing for them. We need to give them back their voice, let them know it’s ok to experience these feelings and that it’s also ok to discuss, it does not make them a weaker person. These people have dedicated their lives to the world and don’t see themselves as anyone different than they were 40/50 years ago. The end of life brings so many beautiful times that we don’t get until we age, we have to remind our older adults of that, aging isn’t bad, aging is beautiful. “The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” (Frank Lloyd