Just like hypertension and diabetes, the etiology of geriatric depression is difficult to be explained by one cause. Broadly speaking, it is divided into two aspects: psychosocial factors and biological factors. Psychosocial factors mostly refer to the fact that the elderly often have to face many special life events, for example, the sense of loss and uselessness caused by the change of social status and the decrease of economic income after retirement; the sadness of the death of a spouse; the loneliness and isolation of separation from children; while these negative events increase psychological stress, the aging of the organism makes the elderly less tolerant to frustration, and the family and social support received by the elderly is often The family and social support for the elderly is often less than when they were younger. In the face of these stressors, the elderly are prone to depression and depressive disorders if they do not adjust their psychology properly. The personality of the elderly may also change as they enter old age. Some poor personality traits from youth may become more prominent in old age, leading to mental or psychological problems. For example, some people are introverted, sensitive, suspicious, selfish, and have difficulty establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relationships with others; some people are self-centered, stubborn and inflexible, etc. The undesirable personality traits make these elderly people unable to adopt adaptive behaviors well when they encounter various psychological and physical stimuli in old age, thus making them prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological problems. Biological factors include the following: 1. Some elderly people have relatives with the same disease, indicating a certain genetic predisposition to depression; 2.
Aging and degeneration of brain tissues with diminished functions; 3. Altered chemical substances in the brain. Modern scientific research shows that the decrease of two chemicals in the brain, pentraxin and adrenaline, can cause depression in the elderly; 4. Various brain and body diseases, for example, encephalitis, traumatic brain injury, brain tumor, Parkinson’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, etc., may induce depression; 5. Certain foreign chemicals such as drugs, certain medications, etc., can also cause depression. In conclusion, the causes of depression in the elderly are diverse and often the result of the interaction of the two types of factors mentioned above.