Identifying, Understanding and Dealing with Late-life Depression

Over the past several years, the term “late-life depression” has been regarded as a more serious condition than previously.

The reasoning behind late-life depression is simple: As people grow older, they have no choice but to deal with such situations as the loss of their spouse or their close friends, having to move from their home and into the different surroundings of assisted living, losing functional capacity and even having their lives dramatically changed by the loss of their driving abilities.

While those situations, alone, are difficult to deal with, having multiple issues happen at one time can create an overpowering sense of loss and, if left unchecked, can lead to depression.

According to Ira R. Katz, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, depression is widely misunderstood and frequently under diagnosed and under treated in the United States.

Depression is a complex medical disorder that directly affects a person’s mood along with their thoughts, feelings, behavior and overall health. No doctor would disagree with the fact that it is completely normal to respond to life’s losses with sadness and shades of gloom. Yet, when these feelings continue to go unchecked and begin to block a person from performing their everyday activities or lend the person to do things that are outside of their sphere of normal behavior, then the symptoms of a depressive disorder are beginning to show.

Depression, like normal moods, goes from mild to moderate to severe. Severe depression can be life threatening and can cause a person’s health to fair rapidly. Mild depression, studies have shown, can become so serious over time that treatment is needed as well.

But what are the characteristics and signs of depression? Typical signs include feelings of sadness or overall helplessness, the loss of energy, feeling inexplicably irritable as well as increased lethargy and fatigue. Other characteristics include large changes, both increases and decreases, in sleep patterns, insomnia and decreased ability to concentrate and remember. More discreet characteristics include the loss of interest in hobbies and activities, decrease or increase in appetite, changes in weight, and feelings of restlessness. Depression has also been known to manifest itself in physical form, such as chronic pain or lingering illnesses. Severe depression can lead to thoughts of death and suicide.

Depression is treatable when diagnosed by a doctor. The usual types of treatment for depression, according to Dr. Donald J. Franklin of the website Psychology Information Online, are psychological and medical. Psychological treatment is supportive, cognitive and aims at helping solve the problems creating the depression. Medical treatment is usually more optional except in severe depressions and bipolar depression. Antidepressant medications do no cure the problem; only help those suffering from depression feel better by controlling various symptoms.

Those seeking to help friends or family who may be suffering from depression should first support them and help set up an appointment for a medical evaluation. If needed, make the appointment with them and accompany them to the doctor’s office.