Many elderly adults face significant life changes and stressors that put them at risk for depression. Those at the highest risk include older adults with a personal or family history of depression, failing health, substance abuse problems, or inadequate social support.
Causes and risk factors that contribute to depression in the elderly include:
• Loneliness and isolation – Living alone; a dwindling social circle due to deaths or relocation; decreased mobility due to illness or loss of driving privileges.
• Reduced sense of purpose - Feelings of purposelessness or loss of identity due to retirement or physical limitations on activities.
• Health problems – Illness and disability; chronic or severe pain; cognitive decline; damage to body image due to surgery or disease.
• Medications – Many prescription medications can trigger or exacerbate depression.
• Fears – Fear of death or dying; anxiety over financial problems or health issues.
• Recent bereavement - The death of friends, family members, and pets; the loss of a spouse or partner.
Is it grief or depression?
Although a grieving person may experience a number of depressive symptoms such as frequent crying and profound sadness, grief is a natural and healthy response to bereavement and other major losses. There is a difference, however, between a normal grief reaction and one that is disabling or unrelenting. While there’s no set timetable for grieving, if it doesn’t let up over time or extinguishes all signs of joy—laughing at a good joke, brightening in response to a hug, appreciating a beautiful sunset—it may be depression.