Depression Amongst Older Adults

As I was going through my research on depression in the later stages of life it really dawned on me how vulnerable older adults are, I especially sat back and looked at my own community and how the added language barrier and stigma about mental illness within the Somali community would make it extremely hard on elderly people facing depression.

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems amongst the increasing elderly community. Its varied presentation in symptoms is sometimes hard to distinguish between the many other illnesses and symptoms that affect the elderly (wasylenki,1980). These varied presentations in symptoms can sometimes be masked by other illnesses that come with old age, such as “tiredness, fatigue and lack of energy” (Wasylenki. 1980). To add to this, “somatic pain” which is ones relating directly with the body and separate from the mind makes it more difficult to treat because they tend to focus on those symptoms instead of the underlying mood disorder (Wasylenki, 1980).

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems with the elderly community and it affects not only our elders but also their families due to the increased care that they will need putting a higher strain on the families (Wiese, 2011). “There is also often a tendency for people to see their symptoms as part of the normal aging process, which they are not. Depression in the elderly still goes undertreated and untreated, owing in part to some of these issues” (Wiese, 2011). Fortunately depression can be treated rather successfully but the key is to the diagnoses.

While looking at how political ideologies might impact the issue I came across the article " Depression and mental health in neoliberal times". The article talks about this neoliberal view of "responsibilization" of our communities, which basically means putting the responsibility of caring for those who are mentally ill on the individuals, families, communities and workplaces with the main interest being the reduction of public spending on services and supports (Teghtsoonian, 2009). This reflects the main idea of neolibralism in that it wants to put responsibility of the individuals instead of the government.
Thinking of my community and my grandmother who use to live with us, my own community doesn’t often speak about mental health because of the stigma associated with it, I recognize that not many elderly would get treated even if they do have symptoms of depression. I also thought about the fact that there is an increase hassle of not being able to understand the doctor. This language barrier would leave no room for privacy even if they an elderly person might want to see a doctor.

Hoda

References:

Wasylenki, D. (1980). Depression in the elderly . Canadian Medical Association Journal, 122, 525-532.

Wiese, B. S. (2011). Geriatric depression: The use of antidepressants in the elderly. British Columba Medica Journal, 53(7), 341-347.

Teghtsoonian, K. (2009). Depression and mental health in neoliberal times: A critical analysis of policy and discourse. Social Science & Medicine, 69(1), 28-35.