The Elderly and Their Depression

Clinical depression or as it is sometimes referred to as, "major depression", is a biologically based brain disorder. This type of depression can affect behavior, feelings, thoughts, and the physical thoughts of the individual suffering from it. The older individual who is suffering from clinical depression will complain about feeling lousy or unwell and others including the doctor caring for them may dismiss the feelings as normal aches and pains of advanced age. It may be misdiagnosed, overlooked or just plain ignored even by well-meaning caregivers. This is a serious disease that has affected 11.6 Americans yearly including those considered to be elderly.

Individuals who are depressed have poor appetite, lack energy, will either sleep poorly or sleep too much and be unable to concentrate adequately to function while doing daily tasks.

Once diagnosed with depression, there is hope for the elderly that they can again return to a normal life. Treatments are very effective if treatment is initiated. The problem is that less than 1/3 of the elderly individuals who have depression symptoms ever seek treatment.

Depression has many forms and no matter why or the cause of depression it is still something that majorly affects your life. The elderly (65 years or older) face many obstacles in life, an illness like depression can seriously undermine any effort to function as in being dependent and even disabled to the point of bringing about hardship for themselves and any family members.

What makes depression in the elderly different?

You would think depression is depression no matter the individual's age, right? Wrong. The very basic difference between a younger individual going through clinical depression and someone over age 65 is that an elderly person is much more likely to have disease issues (usually multiple) that will have an impact on their ability to recover from the physical side-effects of depression. The physical side-effects of depression are by-products of not being able to function due to the depression. As an example:

A depressed individual will either have a great deal of difficulty sleeping or will sleep too much. If the individual is not getting enough sleep than the body will not be in optimal shape to fight off infection, to repair itself from cell damage, or to have an alert mind for making critical decisions regarding healthcare. An individual who sleeps too much will miss medication doses, missed doctor appointments etc., you get the picture.

Depression also leads to an increased risk for cardiac diseases that risk already increases just with the advanced age of an individual; so depression speeds up this process.

Depression studies have shown that the combination of serious illness or chronic illness and depression increases the risk for death from these illnesses; even if the depression is mild.

The depressed elderly individual is also at an increased risk for suicide because the duration of depression tends to last longer in the older individual and has such a devastating effect on health issues; suicide is a very appealing alternative to someone facing the combination described above.

Support:

It is critical that anyone suffering from depression become surrounded by caring and supportive individuals and organizations; it is critical to the survival of the elderly depressed person that treatment and support be initiated as soon as the diagnosis is made. Healthcare workers are becoming increasingly aware of the many risks faced by the depressed elderly in their care thanks to research and study documentation. Recognizing the signs of depression in the elderly is now the main concern of those who are involved in eldercare. Doctors and other non-psychological professionals need to understand that depression is not normal in the elderly. Depression is serious and must be on the mind of any doctor who is seeing elderly patients in their practice.

Planning your Financial Retirement

While there was once a standard age for retirement in this country and people could count on their company pension plans or retirement funds to get them through their twilight years we are finding that people are often living longer than their funds intended and that their quality of life in these years is much better than in decades past. In fact, we are seeing a growing number of retirees that are dedicated to health and good, clean, fun living. This is something almost unprecedented throughout history and yet our retirees are younger in many ways than ever before.

This is where the problem kicks in for most. If you haven't heard, social security, which was meant to secure our golden years is in serious financial trouble. Part of the reason for this is because people are living longer than was intended when this program was invented. For this reason, we are seeing more and more young people taking their financial retirement planning into their own hands-particularly as we are witnessing more and more retirees coming out of retirement in order to put food on their tables because their retirement funds aren't enough to make ends meet.

It's really sad to see those that must return to work in those years where they should be watching their grandchildren playing rather than going into work day after day. If you don't want this to be you then action needs to be taken. You cannot depend on social security for your retirement and chances are that social services will be a long forgotten thing of the past by the time we reach retirement age. There are several things you can do that will help you when it comes to setting aside and investing money for your retirement.

The earlier in life you begin socking away money for your retirement the better. This of course does not mean that there is no hope if you wait until later in life only that you will need to make more substantial investments and save more aggressively if you choose to wait until a later date.

One thing you should carefully consider when planning for your retirement and setting aside funds for that end is how much money you feel you will need in order to have the quality of life you hope to have upon retirement. Many people are working longer than in the past in order prolong their investment period. It helps if you set specific goals so that you have a number to work towards. You should discuss your plans and goals with a financial advisor from the very beginning in order to get the most accurate advice that is customized for your individual needs.

Just as there are very few things in life that are one size fits all, the same holds true when it comes to planning for your financial retirement. We all have goals for our golden years. Some of these goals include jet setting around the world while others of us seek little more than a modest existence, a garden to call our own, and a steady supply of good books to on our nightstands. There are all kinds of retirement plans and they will each require their own unique and individual means of funding.

One important thing you need to keep in mind is that while saving is great, investing is often the wiser option for increasing your funds and netting larger earnings upon which to retire. There is risk involved in investing and you need to be aware of those risks before choosing to do so, however, there are many times where the rewards far outweigh the risks that are associated with investing.

You should always discuss your retirement plans and goals with a qualified financial planner. He or she can offer advice and guidance that could make a huge impact on the scope of your retirement and your lifestyle upon retiring. Choose your planner with as much care as you choose the plan for your financial retirement and you should be in good hands.