Everything You Need to Know About Geriatric Depression

 As people get older, the body stops being as strong as it used to be. When this happens, the body becomes more susceptible to illnesses and even geriatric depression. 

Some illnesses older people are prone to include arthritis, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and so on, click here to learn more about this. Sadly, the physical body is not all that gets affected by age, the minds of older people are usually not as strong as they used to be too. 

Geriatric depression is one of the mental disorders that an older person may experience. If you want to know more about this condition, then read this article to the end. Here, we will be discussing everything you need to know about geriatric depression. 

What is Geriatric Depression? 

Geriatric depression simply refers to the depressive disorder that affects older adults. Depressive disorder typically affects the mood of those suffering from it. This is a common condition among older people, this, however, does not mean that the condition is normal.

About six million Americans at 65 years and above are said to be affected by this condition. Sadly, only about ten percent receive treatment. The reason for this low treatment rate is most likely because depression symptoms are displayed differently in elderly people. The symptoms they display most often get confused to be due to the medicines that are used to manage the illnesses they have. 

Depression in Senior Citizens

While senior citizens also experience major depressive disorder, it is often different from the way it is in younger people. Senior citizens typically have medical disabilities and illnesses and depression usually accompanies them, this makes the condition last for longer. 

Older people that have this condition are also more at risk of dying from illnesses and cardiac diseases. It also reduces their rehabilitation ability. This is perhaps why the risk of dying from the illnesses they suffer from is higher. 

Hence, if you have an elderly person in your care, you need to ensure they are properly evaluated and ultimately treated. Do not take it lightly no matter how mild the symptoms may be. 

Symptoms

The symptoms of geriatric depression are usually different from the symptoms of regular major depressive disorder. An elderly person suffering from depression would have some of the following symptoms: 

• Trouble sleeping 
• Feel tired 
• Be irritable or grumpy
• Have very slow movement
• Easily get or always feel confused
• Have a hard time paying attention
• Sudden change in appetite or weight
• Have a feeling of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness
• Get suicidal thoughts
• Have pains and aches 
• Stop having an interest in hobbies or activities they used to love

A doctor can make a diagnosis by asking some standard questions. Once the diagnosis is made, treatment has to commence as soon as possible. Doctors often usually do routine checks for depressive disorder in senior citizens. This may be done when they come for either wellness or chronic illness visit at the hospital. 

Risk Factors

Things that increase the chances of an elderly person having this condition include: 

• Stressful or traumatic life events
• Being widowed, divorced, unmarried, or single
• Being female

Physical conditions such as chronic pain, dementia, cancer, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and stroke can also increase the risk further.

These factors are also seen in senior citizens with this condition: 

• Loss of a close friend or family 
• History of depressive disorder
• Has severe or chronic pain 
• Social isolation or living alone
• Fear of dying 
• Disability 
• Dependence 
• Substance abuse

Insomnia and Geriatric Depression

As we have said, insomnia (trouble sleeping) is a common symptom of depressive disorder. You can visit https://www.sleepfoundation.org/ to find out more about insomnia. 

In senior citizens, insomnia is one of the risk factors either for depression that keeps reoccurring or new depression. So, when treating insomnia in senior citizens it is recommended to either avoid or minimize (if it cannot be avoided) the use of benzodiazepines or the more recent “hypnotic” medicines. 

The American Geriatric Society says that these medicines may increase the chances of respiratory depression as well as impaired alertness. 

Hence, the use of hormone melatonin medicines is a better choice for treating insomnia in older people. Sedating antidepressants can also be used to work for both insomnia and depressive disorder. If improvement is not seen for either of the conditions, then a psychiatrist can use psychotherapy or other medications, or even both.

Conclusion

Geriatric depression is depressive disorder in older people. When the body ages, the mind also ages alongside it and becomes prone to some illnesses as well. Sadly, this depressive disorder in senior citizens has a low treatment rate because the symptoms are usually confused with the effects of the medications, they take for other illnesses they have. Therefore, a routine check for this condition is important in senior citizens so a proper diagnosis can be made and subsequent treatment can start. This condition should not be taken lightly regardless of how mild it may appear; this is because it is a contributing factor of death to illnesses in seniors. 

Main photo credit: Photo by Huy Phan on Unsplash