Is Late Life Depression Treatable?
[00:00:00] Depression in later life is not inevitable. Did you know that depression is not a normal part of aging and yet it is silently stealing joy, energy, and even years of life from millions of older adults? And here's what's even more heartbreaking, most older adults with depression. Are never diagnosed and never treated. Why? Because too many people, including professionals, mistake it for just getting older.
But here's the truth. it's highly treatable.
Today I wanna talk with you about late life depression and how it's different from depression earlier in life, and most importantly, what you can do to help because depression later in life is serious and it's treatable. So what is late onset depression? When depression first appears after the age of 65, we call this [00:01:00] late onset depression.
It's more likely to be linked to health challenges like heart disease, stroke, or early signs of dementia. one study found that over 50% of older adults who were psychiatrically hospitalized had their first episode of depression after the age of 60.
Depression in late life is often underdiagnosed, and this is because symptoms show up differently later in life than they do earlier, like maybe more memory problems, irritability or withdrawing from others rather than sadness. Maybe GI concerns like stomach concerns and other physical symptoms.
Some risk factors that can increase a person's risk for developing later life depression are medical conditions like diabetes, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's disease, other dementia disorders, maybe bereavement the loss of a significant person in their life, social isolation, loss of [00:02:00] independence, maybe relying on others for, daily function like dressing or toileting or shopping and the experience of disability, functional limitations and chronic pain and daily life stressors.
What actually helps? Things that help older adults to stave off depression are things like staying physically active, having strong and meaningful relationships here, it's about quality, not about quantity, having a sense of meaning and purpose in life. What is this all for? These can literally shield the brain and the psyche and improve mental health.
Here's a myth that we all need to challenge. There's an idea that older adults are too set in their ways to change, so why would we refer them to therapy? This simply is not true. Older adults. respond just as well to therapy as younger adults do.
[00:03:00] The problem isn't treatment resistance. It's treatment access.
So let's change that myth and share what's actually true. Older adults can heal and grow.
And because without it,
when older adults do not get the treatment they need for mental health concerns, medical problems worsen more, medication is used for those medical problems, which is one of the primary complaints that older adults have. There are more visits to the hospital for medical problems, more visits to the er, longer hospitalizations, and all of that means that the person's probably spending more money for their medical care, not to mention that then there's caregiver strain and family strain, needless suffering and poorer quality of life, and increased risk for other health conditions like dementia disorders. And finally, that it increases the risk for suicide. And so there is a lot we can do to address [00:04:00] and treat depression among older adults, and it starts with you.
So here's what you can do if you suspect an older adult in your life is depressed.
Step one is to connect them with their doctor. Depression can be triggered or worsened by medical conditions or medications, or when medications interact, and so encourage your older person to start with a full medical checkup to rule out any biophysiological causes that may be causing depression symptoms, you can ask the doctor to screen for depression at this time.
If you are a mental health or healthcare provider, you can screen with the PHQ nine, and that has been normed with older adults or the GDS 15. It's the Geriatric Depression Scale.
15. I'll put a link to those in the show notes as well.
The second step then is to connect that person with a mental health provider who specializes with older adults. Older adults have unique needs that [00:05:00] require specialized care, and at the Center for Mental Health and Aging, we are building a free national directory of licensed mental health providers who specialize in the mental health care of older adults. Visit www.mentalhealthandaging.com to find a therapist in your area.
Here's what I want you to take from this episode today.
Every older adult deserves the chance to heal, to feel joy, to connect, to live with dignity and purpose. Depression may show up later in life, but so can hope and so can healing, and so can transformation.
Depression is not normal with aging and is highly treatable. We just have to bridge the person to care and change stereotypes and myths that are just not true. Older adults are capable of change
and growth and this is because there is no expiration date on healing, transformation and love.
If you enjoyed this mental health and aging [00:06:00] tip, will you share it with somebody who might benefit from it? We're creating a movement to improve mental health care for older adults, and I hope that you will join us. I'm gonna put a link below where you can sign up to get a weekly mental health and aging tip directly to your email inbox. and for more mental health and aging tips, follow along and join the movement
because there is no expiration date on healing, transformation and growth.
I'm Dr. Regina Koepp I'm a clinical Geropsychologist and founder of the Center for Mental Health and Aging. If you found this episode helpful, would you follow, review, subscribe, and share it with others? It really helps other people to find us so that they too can join the movement for mental health and aging because as you know, there is no expiration date on healing transformation.
And love. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.