If you have been diagnosed with clinical depression, the odds are good that you already have a treating physician you can rely on for help and advice. Yet if you have just participated in a health fair sponsored depression screening or perhaps simply wonder whether or not you might be suffering from depression, you might feel at a loss whom to see for help with elderly depression.
Understanding that it is most likely not something that is most commonly handled by your primary care physician, you do have a lot of options to consider!
1. Believe it or not, but your family doctor, primary care physician, and other medical professional you see on a regular basis is a great first place to start! She or he may be a prime source of referrals, ideas where to seek out treatment, and may even work with a specific counseling center, psychiatrist, or clinic on a regular basis and know the staff by name.
2. A psychiatrist is an individual who has the power to prescribe medication if needed. She or he will also be available for psychotherapy and to diagnose if in addition to depression you may be suffering from other mental illnesses as well. In some cases, especially if there is a family history of mental illness, you will be well served to have her or him work up a psychiatric profile to exclude or include certain conditions.
3. When you choose a psychologist, you will be working with an individual who decided to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology rather than medicine, and who is thus extremely well qualified to treat your condition. If prescriptions are necessary, the psychologist may work together with your primary care physician, a step that also ensures that you will not experience any drug interactions with medications you are already taking.
4. If you are a home healthcare recipient, you will find that many home health agencies will also have specially trained nurses that make the rounds and have an extensive background in psychology and talking therapy. If you do not have a dire case of bipolar depression but instead fall into the group of individuals who suffer from unipolar depression, you may be a good candidate to benefit from these visits.
If all else fails, contact your local senior resource center or AARP chapter to be put in touch with an elder advocate who can help you find a psychologist or treatment provider who will meet your needs. You may be surprised to learn how easy it is to find qualified individuals close by your home. In the same vein, insurance companies now routinely cover mental health and there is no longer the cost prohibitive expense of seeking help that in the past may have kept some from getting the help they needed.
As a matter of fact, your insurance company may also be a great source of information and they should be able to offer you copious referrals to participating providers in your neighborhood!
