The Most Common Mental Illnesses Faced by the Elderly.
Ever since the world came to a frenzied standstill a year ago, the mental health of many has taken a turn for the worse. Uncertainty about the symptoms and course of illness, its confusion with the general deteriorating health that accompanies old age and a greater vulnerability to the virus has led to an uneasy period for the elderly.
Combine the unique challenges of the pandemic with statistics from a 2013 report by the World Health Organisation that points to almost 15 per cent of the world’s population over the age of sixty facing mental disorders, and you may understandably feel significant cause for concern for the mental health of your elderly loved one.
In this article, we shall talk about the most common mental illnesses faced by the elderly, their symptoms, risk factors and how to determine the right time to seek professional help.
Addressing the Issue
Reports suggest that 3.8 per cent of the world’s elderly population are affected by anxiety disorders. Meanwhile, depression is suffered by 5 per cent of the elderly population at large, and this already concerning number turns into 13.5 per cent for those who require home healthcare. As alarming as these numbers are, identifying mental health issues in the elderly can be difficult. This, for the most part, can be attributed to age-related adversities faced by the elderly, as well as symptoms sometimes being subtle and imperceptible.
Of course, the stigma surrounding mental health issues also plays a huge part in an elderly’s decline in cognitive state flying under the radar. Often, they find it hard to speak up about their mental health problems, for fear of being met with ridicule by those around them. A general lack of awareness about mental health also results in older adults not notifying their friends, family or healthcare providers about their symptoms, simply because they do not understand and thus lack the tools to explain what they’re going through.
Properly diagnosing and treating mental disorders may be a much more complicated task when it comes to the elderly. Clear symptoms of mental health disorders such as persistent depression and memory loss are mistaken for changes that usually come with age, such as general forgetfulness. This results in the symptoms being ignored or dismissed entirely and prevents the elderly from getting the help they urgently need.
Spotting the Signs
As a caregiver, you can recognise certain signs that may indicate mental health concerns. If you come across any one of these signs or a variety of them in your elderly loved one, contacting the appropriate health care professional as soon as possible is the right thing to do.
A few of the signs are – a drastic change in the elderly’s appetite, mood or personality, sleeping too much or not at all, repeatedly expressing or having thoughts of deep hopelessness and sadness, uncharacteristic antisocial or social behaviour, excessive memory loss, inability to manage finances or deal with numbers, sudden difficulty in looking after their previously kempt household.
Common Mental Health Disorders in the Elderly
Depression
Depression is the most prevalent of all disorders among people aged 60 and above. Contrary to a still widely believed misconception, depression isn’t just being sad or “having the blues”. While some sadness and trepidation about what lies ahead in the future are commonly encountered by many ageing and ill seniors, depression is a much more serious mental condition.
If unheeded and untreated (as it so often is), depression can have severe effects, such as both physical and mental impairments. It becomes even more dangerous with the fact that it can interfere with other health conditions and delay recovery or worsen it. In the elderly, depression has often been seen to co-exist with serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and dementia.
The common symptoms of depression are – excessive trouble with sleeping, persistent sadness, a severe lack of energy and psychosomatic symptoms such as continued aches, pains, digestive problems that seem to have no obvious cause or treatment.
Risk factors that may signal an added susceptibility to depression for older adults are chronic illnesses, substance abuse or heavy drinking and widowhood among others.
Anxiety Disorders
Along with depression, anxiety is another pervasive mental disorder faced by seniors and appears as a pair of depression in a high number of cases. Despite this, anxiety disorders among the elderly are time and again misdiagnosed and poorly treated, as the common symptoms tend to coincide with those of other disorders in the elderly.
Moreover, the diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders are, for the most part, directed toward the younger population, which makes the diagnosis even tougher. Older adults too, make light of psychiatric symptoms.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is marked by excessive worry about everyday life, and can greatly interfere with an individual’s social functioning and day-to-day activities. Some of the common symptoms are constant worrying, trouble concentrating, fatigue, irritability, pain in the back and more. Apart from GAD, the elderly also face phobias, panic disorders and social anxiety disorders.
Risk factors of anxiety disorders to look out for in old age include physical impairments that restrict mobility and functioning, major illness or death of loved one, traumatic events and personality traits.
Dementia
Dementia is a group of conditions that lead to a decline in at least two mental functions and is thus one of the most feared geriatric disorders. Dementia is highly impactful, distressing not only the affected individual but also the family members and caregivers due to the demanding daily care needed.
Dementia weakens cognitive function to the point that affected individuals lose independence in daily function. The symptoms you need to watch out for may include difficulty in communicating, getting lost while driving on familiar routes, inability to handle complex tasks and problem solve, personality changes, hallucination and more.
The risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias goes up with increasing age, as well as smoking, alcohol abuse, high cholesterol, etc.
Eating Disorders
Although popular media usually pins the affected as regularly belonging to the younger female population, eating disorders can affect people regardless of age or sex. The past few years have seen a rise in eating disorders among the elderly, which has gone unrecognised in many spheres.
The misconception and stereotype attaching eating disorders to young adolescents do a lot of harm, as it causes early warning signs in an elderly individual to be overlooked by friends and family. Missing out on symptoms can be highly dangerous, as the elderly with eating disorders like bulimia nervosa are more susceptible to experiencing heart issues.
The symptoms to look out for are changes in bathroom schedule (using the bathroom straight after meals), a heavy influence of body weight and appearance on the person’s self-esteem, fear of gaining weight and more. Chewing problems, virtual and physical impairments limiting the ability to look for or prepare food, and other diseases are all relevant risk factors of eating disorders among the elderly.
What Can You Do To Help?
As a loved one or caregiver, the best thing you can do is to stay on the lookout for the emergence of any symptoms associated with mental illnesses and get help from your trusted doctor immediately. You can also accompany them to their appointments, encourage them to get social support and exercise if they are able. Physical activity can significantly help in the fight against depression, anxiety and other disorders.