Depression in elderly treatment

What is the best depression medication for the elderly? What are the best antidepressants for the elderly? Clinical depression in the elderly is common. Late-life depression affects about million Americans ages and older.

But only receive treatment for depression.

Learn about depression and aging and what depression treatment works best for seniors. At the same time, depression reduces an elderly person's ability to rehabilitate. Depression in the elderly often increases their risk of cardiac diseases.

Geriatric depression is a mental and emotional disorder affecting older adults. Feelings of sadness and occasional blue” moods are normal. However, lasting depression is not a typical part of. It is not a normal part of aging, a sign of weakness, or a character flaw.

Many older adults with depression need treatment to feel better.

There are several types of depression. The most common include: Major Depression—severe symptoms that interfere with your ability to work, sleep, concentrate, eat, and enjoy life. It is a common but serious mood disorder that needs treatment. It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, and working. Individuals with clinical depression require professional treatment , such as counseling, medication, or a combination of both to alleviate symptoms.

In elderly patients, symptoms of depression can be mistaken for symptoms of another medical problem, so it is important for clinicians to consider all physical problems and medications of elderly patients before making a diagnosis. While most people experience periods of sadness at times, depression is a treatable medical condition. The fact that elderliness is accepted as a property of depressive symptoms both by the relatives of the patients and doctors is one of the factors which make it difficult. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated seven million Americans aged or older will experience an episode of depression. If biological intervention is require psychopharmacological therapy is relatively safe and effective even in the presence of co-occurring medical conditions.

Patients usually respond to treatment , although this may take longer than it does in younger adults and it may require. The elderly can experience depression like any other age group, yet may encounter difficulties that other age groups may not. While you may think depression is the natural result of aging, if. For unipolar psychotic major depression , the treatment of choice is an antidepressant (SSRI or venlafaxine XR) plus.

Common types of depression in elderly men. While most research to-date demonstrates that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men, suicide rates among men who do suffer from.

Hospital and residential treatment. In some people, depression is so severe that a hospital stay is needed. Psychiatric treatment at a hospital can help keep you calm and safe until your mood improves. The main differences in treatment between young and old adults who are depressed include dose, time to response, and choice of therapy. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can be used in the elderly and are usually well tolerated.

The elderly may not show all of these signs, and they may exhibit different symptoms, which is one reason that diagnosis and treatment rates are low. Older adults with depression often don’t describe themselves as being sa but their behaviors indicate depressed mood. The rate of older depression is more common among older women than older men.

The older women experience more symptoms of depressive disorder than older men.