Released Aug. 31, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Senior depression affects about 6 million Americans over the age of 65, but only about 10 percent of them actually receive treatment.
"It's such an untalked about topic in our senior population. An important fact to remember is depression is not a part of normal aging," says LaVona Traywick, assistant professor of gerontology with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. "In fact, depression is not normal at any age."
Depression in the elderly is often confused with dementia, says Traywick, because the symptoms can sometimes look the same.
Short-term memory loss and apathy are common in both disorders, but there are many differences.
Although depression can cause memory loss specific to a certain part or a certain period of a person's life, a person with depression can talk about things in the past consistently and sequentially, whereas, someone with dementia is likely to relay inconsistent history with poor sequencing.
"With dementia, you usually have trouble talking about things in the correct order," says Traywick.
Confusion is generally a sign of dementia rather than depression.
"A depressed person could have poor concentration and forget where he left the house keys, while a person with dementia might not know what the house keys are called or what they're for or how to use them," says Traywick.
Depression and dementia are different on a neurological level, too.
With dementia, the brain's primal frontal lobe reflexes, the area that manifests personality, can still be present, but in depression, those reflexes are not acting.
"With dementia, we're still having the personality coming through—albeit sometimes altered, but with depression, we're not," Traywick explains.
Depression can be caused by psychological, environmental or physical factors.
Psychological factors in depression include:
- Unresolved or repressed traumatic experiences, including post traumatic stress disorder in war veterans.
- A history of depression.
- "If you have a history of depression, you're more likely to be depressed in your older age."
- A change in body image, like an amputation that results from diabetes, a mastectomy to treat cancer, or a scar from open-heart surgery.
- Fear of death
- Frustration with memory loss
- Difficulty adjusting to stressful conditions, such as the loss of family or friends or the decline of abilities.
Environmental causes of depression may include:
- Retirement, which may prompt a feeling of loss of identity.
- Loneliness, isolation, bereavement.
Physical factors in depression may include:
- Genetics
- Vitamin B12 deficiency, which is a common cause of depression and memory loss, especially in men over 50.
Some medications may bring on the symptoms of depression, as well, says Traywick.
"It's important that senior adults be aware that these might be side effects of their medications and they need to be sure to let their doctors know if they are having depressed symptoms or if taking a new medication or different dosage is affecting them," she says.
Senior adults often believe that depression will go away on its own, or believe that asking for help means they are weak.
"It rarely will go away on its own," says Traywick. "Depression really needs to be treated by a professional."
Treatments include counseling, psychotherapy, medication or some combination.
"Most people have to have something to help them get out of the dumps," she reminds. "Most people with depression have to have some sort of intervention to help them feel better."
For more information about health and wellness, visit the extension's Web site, http://www.uaex.edu, or contact your county extension agent. Additional information is available at the Acknowledging Aging page: http://www.arfamilies.org/health_nutrition/aging/.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/august2007/0831seniors.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207, ljames@uaex.edu
