Senior citizens are facing a lot of changes and some of them can fall into isolation over time. Additionally, the United States has a cultural bent towards productivity, and those who are no longer productive may feel as though they are not as worthy of care and respect. Finally, senior citizens may be at risk of underlying health concerns that are limiting their enjoyment of life.
How to understand that someone is depressed?
While depression can often manifest as sadness, it is also possible for the depressed person to be surly or agitated in their unhappiness. In these cases, you or your elderly loved one find yourself
- argumentative
- on edge
- unable to sleep
This agitation can lead people to avoid the depressed person or write them off as cantankerous. However, someone who is depressed and questioning their self-worth may actually be uncontrollably irascible, even to themselves.
Why can depression be dangerous?
Depression can be dangerous because it can lead to suicide over time. It can also lead to malnutrition and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Should a senior in your life start to lose a great deal of weight, struggle with drug abuse or isolate themselves to a much greater degree than previously noted, depression may be the source.
Does depression have something in common with anxiety and panic attacks?
Anxiety is a state of constant agitation, up to and including panic attacks. If you are facing challenges as you enter retirement, such as seeking a sense of purpose or struggling with financial challenges, anxiety may be the natural result.
Over time, life on the anxious mental edge can be exhausting. If your anxiety goes unchecked, you may start to suffer panic attacks or fall into a fugue state. Constant anxiety can also damage your digestive tract and your ability to manage the steps it takes to keep your life running smoothly.
Eventually, anxiety is wearing and may grind into depression over time. Both conditions impact how you think and can do a lot of damage to your ability to manage change. Aging is a state of extreme change over time.
Common causes of depression in seniors
In addition to facing a lot of change, many seniors are facing
- a loss of social structure when they leave the working world
- money concerns if they were not as ready for retirement as they hoped
- loss of loved ones over time
These losses and stress over resources can lead to a narrowing of quality of life from one day to the next. Looking into a future with no new challenges, experiences or connections, can be a very dark experience.
Ways of prevention of depression and anxiety in seniors
Activities: The first step is to note changes. If you or your loved one have always been an energetic go-getter but now struggle to make plans or meet appointments, it may be time for an assessment or a conversation with a counselor.
Exercise: If you have never had a workout program, meet with a personal trainer and get moving. Take a low-impact aerobics or water workout class. Start yoga, ballet, or tai chi for balance. Do a little shadow-boxing to build up your reflexes.
Get a Physical: If you notice a big drop in flexibility, strength, or energy, it may be time for blood work. While hormonal changes over time are normal, damage or illness of the pituitary gland may mean that you need prescription Growth Hormone therapy via injection from a qualified practitioner. Make sure your physician prescribe you make the best HGH injections on the U.S. market.
Learn Something New: As seniors work to make their bodies move in new ways, exercising the brain is also critical to building new neural pathways.
How to understand if there is positive progress?
How do you know that you are coming out of a depressive episode or anxiety cycle? Your thinking will change. Instead of seeing disaster everywhere or roadblocks to change each time you look, you will see changes and opportunities. Do understand that coming out of depression is not a steady climb. There will be setbacks. Those with anxiety may suddenly face a bout of insomnia. Those climbing out of depression may have a blue or a low energy day. However, as anxiety and depression change your brain and your way of thinking, building these new neural pathways will take effort. You may have a day when you fall back into old patterns.
Signs of depression worsening
Depression may be worsening if you notice that you or your loved one are
- eating poorly
- not making connections
- not meeting appointments
- exhausted but not sleeping
To keep things simple for yourself or your loved one, keep requirements small. Build in small daily markers for activities and connection outside the living space. At the very least, keep to a pattern of
- bathing
- meals
- bedtime
- snacks
Should these last habits fall away, it’s time to talk to your doctor and ask for a referral to a therapist.
Lifestyle without depression
A senior citizen headed into their retirement will have free time. Helping them to find a way to put this time to use doing new things, building new hobbies and making new connections can lead to a tremendous renaissance in the senior citizen. As depression and anxiety change the brain, new experiences can also alter neural pathways and improve their outlook on their lives.
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