Do You Know What Is Depression In The Elderly? at 4healthconcerns.com/Depression
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Do You Know What Is Depression In The Elderly?

Depression can "rear its ugly head" any age and anyone can be afflicted with depression, so to answer your question about "what is depression in the elderly" you should to be aware that physical ailments and diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia could mask depression and can also be the cause of depression.

Many people do not realize that depression can be a big problem for those who are seniors. Surprisingly nearly twenty percent of Americans over the age of sixty-five suffer from some form of depression.

One thing that is important to note when it comes to cases of depression with elderly persons is the fact that the depression tends to last for longer periods of time in the elderly than it does other people and depression can increase an elderly person’s risk of death.

A number of these people suffering from depression will have had periods of depression throughout their lives, however for others it will first begin in their senior years.

As with depression at any age it is often caused by an event and for the depression in the elderly can be the death of a spouse, close friends or a disability that makes them dependant on others for the first time in their adult lives.

Becoming depressed after losing a spouse or close friend is reasonable and normal reaction. However, it shouldn’t be a long-term feeling. The person must be able to move on and continue with life. It’s when they can't that they are suffering from depression and this depression needs to be treated.

The problems, challenges and difficulties that an elderly person faces in their daily life increase as they age and compound their risks of developing depression.

A health issue in a way that it's it doesn't affect younger persons can cause older persons to become depressed. The younger person knows that they will get over the health issue, however the elderly are not so resilient and depression can have adverse affects on the senior’s immune system.

After undergoing any serious medical procedure, check in with the elderly person in order to ensure that the added stress that they are facing due to the procedure is not becoming too much for them and manifesting itself in the form of a case of clinical depression.

Common health problems of seniors include arthritis, hip fractures, heart and stroke issues, and slow recoveries.

This can mean that a depressed senior is more likely to become ill and not be able to fight it off.

How many times have you heard about someone, married for forty plus years that loses a spouse and then they pass away a few weeks or months from an illness that didn’t seem serious?

Older women are more likely to become depressed because they are already dealing with all the hormonal changes that they continue to go through. Women have so many things to deal with and are relied upon both by their spouse, children and grandchildren.

Sadly women who have lost their spouses or never married are the ones most likely to suffer from episodes of depression as seniors.

Seniors do not always get the care they should when they are dealing with depression. Too often it is brushed aside as a natural symptom of growing old.

People generally think its just a grouchy old man’s, or woman’s, attitude. They look at it as a natural passing from old age to senility. None of this is true.

Seniors can be helped the same as anyone else dealing with issues of depression. There are medications for depression that can be given to seniors with the same success rate as with anyone else as long as you can convince them to take them daily.

The medications that an elderly person may be taking in order to deal with other medical problems may actually cause an onset of depression, or at least increase it’s severity.

Also, some medications may counteract the anti-depressant medication that the patient may be taking, so it’s important to ensure with a doctor that your elderly loved one is not taking medications that counteract each other’s efficiency.

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