Geriatric depressive disorder is generally defined as a depressive disorder in people aged 55 or 60 years or older. Low mood may be less common in depression in older adults than in younger adults, yet older adults have to show more irritability, anxiety and physical symptoms.
On July 19, the death of an elderly couple who lost their only daughter to suicide in one area once again raised concerns about the mental health of the elderly. With the accelerated aging of the population, it is not uncommon for the elderly to die of depression, and the mental health of the elderly should be a concern.
Older people in the family often lose their temper and are losing weight?
There are few elderly people around us who have mental health problems. This year, 62-year-old granny Deng, 4 months ago for no reason appear poor mood, do not want to do anything, distracted, hear some loud sounds or family members watching TV even if the volume is turned down, will feel very noisy, often lose their temper, often alone for a long time dazed; often and family members said their chest pain, shoulder pain, this pain that pain, often sigh, eat poorly and sleep poorly, people are also thin.
Faced with the sudden disorder of Grandma Deng, her family at first just thought that the old man was bad-tempered, and that she would be fine for a while, so they didn’t care much.
Later, the granny is becoming more and more unstable, and occasionally has the idea of “living so tired”, wanting to die, and sometimes even want to take a knife to cut the chest to relieve the “pain” when the chest is tight and uncomfortable.
The family then realized the seriousness of the problem, so they took the granny to the local hospital for a psychiatric examination, and later moved to the First Hospital of Jinan University for treatment.
The specialist explained to the family that Deng was suffering from “depression” and needed to be hospitalized.
Depression in old age is not rare, 80% of patients show memory loss
With the increasing pressure of competition in society, people have to face problems in work and family every day, and the experience of “unhappiness” is becoming more and more frequent, so “depression” has become a common expression. What are the characteristics of depression in this age group?
Depression, also known as depressive disorder, is characterized by a significant and persistent depressed mood. The depressed mood can range from sullenness to grief, or even pessimism and anxiety, and may include suicide attempts or behaviors; in severe cases, psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions may occur.
Geriatric depressive disorder generally refers to patients with depressive disorder after the age of 55 or 60. Low mood may be less common in depression in older adults compared to younger adults, however, older adults have to show more irritability, anxiety and physical symptoms.
Most elderly depressed patients also have some degree of cognitive impairment, and some data show that about 80% of patients have complaints of memory loss, and 10%-15% of them have more obvious cognitive impairment similar to dementia, with symptoms including overall cognitive decline in memory, calculation, comprehension and judgment.
Depression may be both a risk factor for cognitive impairment and a manifestation of cognitive decline: depression is associated with an increased risk of dementia.
The relationship between depression and physical illness may go both ways
Some physical problems, such as chronic pain, may be predisposing factors for depression, and depression can also exacerbate some already bad physical conditions, such as heart disease.
Professor Pan Jiyang said that the factors that influence the elderly to suffer from depressive disorders are more complex, including social environment, cultural practices, individual psychological and physiological changes, co-morbid physical diseases and psychiatric disorders.
High risk factors for depression in the elderly
1. Acute negative life events
Such as grief, separation from children or relatives, illness or critical illness of oneself or family members, etc., the recent experience of the above sudden negative life events, for the elderly are more likely to appear emotional or mental depression.
2.Chronic stress
This includes decline in physical health and function, decline in sensory and cognitive function, housing or family, marital conflict, decline in socio-economic income, decline in occupational ability and retirement, etc.
3.Vascular diseases
The proportion of elderly patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases (e.g., coronary heart disease, stroke, etc.) is significantly higher than that of the general population, and the prognosis is worse. Available evidence shows that older people with cardiovascular diseases are prone to co-morbid depression and interact with each other, i.e. depression also increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and death.