Depression And Memory Loss Of The Elderly - 1160 Words

Depression and Memory Loss In the Elderly Pam Randol Meredith Michaud Psychology 220 September 8, 2014 Depression and Memory Loss In the Elderly The Golden Years as it is called, life after retirement. My mother in law would always say â€Å"whoever thought of that term was out of their mind because it is definitely NOT the Golden Years.† Imagine that one day you are working and feeling good and the next you are retired with nothing to do and nowhere to go. So many older people slip into a form of depression not knowing what to do with the next phase of their life. You think about retiring, playing golf, traveling, spending time with grandkids but most the time this is an unrealistic thought. New research suggests that retiring†¦show more content†¦Memory loss usually becomes the main focus by the doctor rather than the suppressive illness. Depression can cause forgetfulness, confusion and difficulty concentrating. Symptoms such as loss of interest in life, lack of enjoyment doing activities, feeling tired all the time, poor sleep, weight loss or gain, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, chronic unexplained pain and memory loss can be correctly attributed to poor health, dementia and old age. In serious depression, thoughts of suicide or death are common. Untreated depression can develop into a problem. There is evidence that depression takes a serious toll on a person’s physical health. Physical pain is one symptom of depression that is generally overlooked. A study that was published in the Psychosomatic Medical Journal found that two thirds of people with depression also were in some sort of physical pain. Depression can also bring on changes in behavior from not wanting to leave home, not eating, alcohol or drug abuse, talking about being useless, sadness, irritability, neglecting personal care and even hoarding. These behaviors should be a red flag to friends and family to the possibilities of depression. Some causes of depression in older people are health and loneliness, loss of their partner, pet, friends and family. The key is to keep busy and to maintain some type of structure in your life. Often medication that is taken to treat physical problems can cause