Depression – one of the principal elderly problems of our time

05 Feb Depression – one of the principal elderly problems of our time

Elderly Problems: Depression

By Salman A. Kureishi For boomeryearbook.com

Of all elderly problems, depression is one of the most lethal. There are around six million Americans who are above the age of sixty five and suffer from some degree of depression. What’s surprising and saddening is that only around ten percent of these elderly people receive professional help. There are all sorts of elderly problems nowadays and many of these problems sprout from the fact that when people reach old age their spouses, friends and family either die or drift apart. Elderly problems such as depression cause one to experience an overall lowering in the quality of life and stark decrease in productivity and joy.

Studies have shown that depression is a huge factor that contributes towards the development of various other elderly problems – both physical and psychological. That’s precisely why it is pivotal to treat your loved one, parent or grandparent for depression as soon as mild symptoms of depression start to crop up – and this is not only true for depression, it is true of all elderly problems.

There are also numerous psychological articles that have rightly suggested that the suicide rate for elderly white men around the age of eighty to eighty four is at least double to that of the general population. To give a further insight into why depression is the direst of all elderly problems, consider the fact that the National institute of Mental Health identifies depression as the most fundamental of all elderly problems for people aged 65 and above. On a financial note, it is worth pointing out that a depressed elderly person will generally consume fifty percent more on heath care costs than his counterparts who do not suffer from depression. The bottom line here is that depression can lead to further physical, emotional and mental elderly problems. Also, physical elderly problems can take a lot longer to cure if the patient suffers from depression.

The fact of the matter is that an unhealthy mind can cause a plethora of other elderly problems. The mind and its negative thoughts can almost always be found at the bottom of elderly problems such as cancer, heart diseases, Parkinson’s and arthritis.

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