Have you have stopped to really see wider than what is right in front of you? When you stepped back to view the bigger picture, did your perspective change? This is a common occurrence for many things in life. We are often too close to the subject; topic or idea to really see all there is contained within the wider circles of it. This is basically what is happening today with the subject of elderly depression. Those individuals that qualify for the distinction to be classified as elderly (age 65 and older) are often overlooked, or misdiagnosed when it comes to depression. There are many reasons why depression is difficult to recognize in the elderly individual.
The disease depression has many forms and affects more than 6.5 million of the 35 million elderly in the United States today. Most of the 6.5 million depression suffers in this elderly group have had some form of depression most of their life with the rest experiencing it for the first time after age 80. The majority of the time depression in the elderly is closely associated with either disability or dependency or both. Being disabled or dependant because of health conditions and/or immobility can put a great strain on the elderly individual and the family members. Knowing how fast paced the world tends to be today is it any wonder that family members and even those who care for the medical needs of the elderly miss the signs and symptoms of depression?
Family members and friends missing the big picture:
Those individuals who are lucky to have family members close enough to see them on a regular basis may still experience depression and have it not be noticed by those who love them and visit them often. How many of us refer to our grandparents or great-grandparents as "Those old, cranky, hermits who only come out of their shell to scold us".... or something similar to that statement? We tend as a society to have an image of "elderly" as someone that has a really old body that is falling apart. We expect them to have pain and to be sick or frail. We expect that with all they have endured in their 65+ years on earth, that they are going to be sad, depressed and rightfully so. Family members often expect depression in the elderly members and therefore are not surprised or even pay too much attention to them when they do exhibit signs of being depressed.
Medical personnel missing the big picture:
Doctors evaluating an elderly patient often miss the signs of depression because it is so commonly seen that it becomes the "norm". When a patient is always sad, always withdrawn, always irritable it can be easy to mistake this for the typical stereotype of cantankerous old men/women that the movies often portray the elderly to be. Many times in the medical world, especially in the U.S.A., the patient tends to be discussed in terms of "the gallbladder, or heart case in room B. We tend to see people as what diagnosis they have or the ailment they are being seen for and fail to look at them in their entirety. What is true for the family members and friends can also be applied to the medical community regarding the fact that elderly individuals are viewed as people who have had a long life and they must have endured many hardships and losses and are therefore entitled to be a little down and blue by the time they are 65 or older. We expect the elderly to be depressed and so we accept it when we see it in them.
Untreated Depression in the Elderly:
If unrecognized and untreated depression in the elderly can have devastating consequences and can even be fatal as it leads to death by suicide. Older Caucasian males have the highest rate of suicide in the U.S. Statistically 70% of those who commit suicide and are elderly have seen a doctor within 30 days and as much as 20% the very day. These statistics speak of how often depression is missed by those who come in contact with those who are depressed and elderly.
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