Depression is a clinical disorder that affects mood and mental health, involving lack of interest in any activities and permanent sadness for a long time. Many people make mistakes when they call any negative, sad feelings depression, though it is a medically recorded disorder, not just a bad mood. Nowadays, it is an actual problem with different roots and interpretations, and it is being overcome by antidepressants and psychotherapy practices. Even though somebody can consider that it hits only young men and adults of middle age, depression is also a particular problem for older people, especially after retirement. It probably appears because of loss of everyday business and some goals that can take one’s attention and time for their achievement. Depression deeply correlates with the absence of meaning of life, objectives, and interests that bring satisfaction. Foster and Herring (2017) note that it is often associated with “loss: loss of control, function, family, independence, autonomy, health, home, role, standing, and so on” (p. 95). There is much literature about psychological and cognitive issues during this stage of life and implications for the treatment of depression, particularly in the older population.
Depression of older people sometimes is related with cognitive impairment that affects the degradation of intellectual abilities. Lyketisos, Plank & Hopkins (2017) note that “Many factors account for this including that aging brain, loss of purpose, social isolation, personal losses, medical morbidity, and others” (p. 7). All these factors are reasons for cognitive impairment that is particular for older people in depression because they do not have a matter to stimulate brain activities. If this is true for young people, then, moreover, it is valid for old ones because of their age. That is why intellectual problems often accompany the described mental disorder.
There are few ways for treating depression in cognitive impairment. “Multiple studies over the years have shown that psychotherapies are as effective as medications (Yarns, Tampi D. J., Tampi R. R., & Zdanys, 2020, p. 9). This disorder demands a holistic and comprehensive method to eliminate all negative aspects of patients’ mental and physical health. Maybe, usage of antidepressants should be very accurate and definitely not isolate because such drugs do not address the main reason for the disorder but its effects. Therefore, the primary focus in treating depression in cognitive impairment should be psychotherapy and psychological practices with some help of drugs and antidepressants.
There are some implications for the treatment of depression in older populations. Steinberg (2017) notes that “When a patient is frail and/or at high fall risk, this should be taken into account when considering risks and benefits of SSRI use.” (p. 107). If a treatment would be accurate, using antidepressants can even worsen, especially for older people. However, it is worth noting that psychotherapy techniques and methods must also be chosen according to the type of disorder for many of them. Thus, treatment may produce a risk for the patient’s health, particularly a medication one for its influence on his organism directly.
In conclusion, depression is an actual clinical disorder for older people with specific reasons related to their age. Most commonly, it appears because of social isolation and loss of purpose, which is accompanied by cognitive impairment. There are some ways of treatment for depression, such as medication, psychotherapy, and psychology. The most effective method is a combination of these three ways to a varying degree. Therefore, depression of older patients can be treated even during their stage of life on all levels where it takes place: mental and physical.
References
Foster, C., & Herring, J. (2017). Depression. Law and Ethics. Oxford University Press.
Lyketsos, C. G., Plank, E., Hopkins, J. (2017). Foreword. In M. Steinberg & P. B. Rosenberg (Eds.), Cognitive Impairment and Depression in Older Patients (pp. 7-9). Oxford University Press.
Steinberg, M. (2017). Treatment of depression. In M. Steinberg and P. B. Rosenberg (Eds.), Cognitive Impairment and Depression in Older Patients (pp. 101-128). Oxford University Press.
Yarns, B., Tampi, D. J., Zdanys, K. F., Tampi R. R. (Eds.). (2020). Psychotherapy in Later Life. Cambridge University Press.