The Signs of Elderly Depression

After my father's death three years ago, the circumstances surrounding my mother's life drastically changed. Prior to his death, my mother got out of the house frequently with my father. She was active in a local senior community, shopped, found entertainment for herself and generally did fairly well for someone in her early 80's. Following his death, she needed to be supervised due to mild dementia and therefore had a change in residence. It was then that I noticed her symptoms of depression.

Following the move to her new home, she became quieter, ate less, and wasn't too interested in taking her daily walks like she had done prior to her new arrangement. I became a bit concerned and asked to have her mental status evaluated. As I thought, she was diagnosed with depression and responded favorably to treatment.

Diagnosing Depression Not Easy For Elderly

Often times diagnosing depression in the elderly can be more difficult than finding depression in younger people, due to the fact that many of their symptoms coexist with other physical ailments from aging as stated on WebMD. Although the symptoms of elderly depression are similar to general depression there are some distinctions in those symptoms and the life circumstances that are more specific to depression of elderly. These include chronic or severe pain, recent bereavement, fear of death, substance abuse, living alone, social isolation from loss of a social network as well as other more common symptoms.

Poor Brain Circulation

To further put elderly at risk for depression, brain scans of this age group show spots on the brain that may indicate compromised blood flow to those areas. This seems to be more prevalent in those elderly that have developed depression for the first time in their senior years.

Fortunately, my mother did become less depressed with treatment and adjustment to her new living arrangement. She kept doing well for a number of years with those circumstances and then after two back to back falls, became depressed again, displaying many of the same symptoms mentioned above before she finally passed.

If you notice an elderly loved one becoming despondent, stay aware and offer your companionship and help in directing them to the appropriate places and people for treatment. The earlier your elderly loved one receives treatment the better the outcome, due to the fact that many times it takes longer for the elderly to respond to
treatment measures.

Source:
http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-elderly