7 Signs of Depression in the Elderly .. How to deal with it
Depression is a mental illness that may affect the elderly and the elderly, where the latest statistics revealed that depression affects about 20% of the elderly, and in this report we recognize the symptoms and signs of depression in the elderly.
Dr. Vala Wissam, Consultant and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, said for the seventh day that the risk of older people suffering from depression is that it is difficult to detect the disease and therefore treat it, especially that the symptoms and signs of depression in the elderly vary somewhat, For other age groups.
She noted that the difficulty of discovering depression is that it may be associated with physical pain caused by aging, and some drugs have side effects, including feeling sad and depressed.
She explained that feeling sad is not always a symptom of depression in the elderly, as some of the elderly people with depression may not feel sad, but they may refer to other symptoms of depression, including psychological and physical symptoms.
And the most important symptoms of depression in the elderly confirmed by Dr. Walaa Wiss that these symptoms are:
Increased physical pain such as: joint pain and headaches.
Frequent complaints of unexplained pain in bones and muscles.
Feeling anxious and fearful.
Memory problems.
Loss of energy and lack of enthusiasm for doing anything.
Slow speech, movement and lack of activity.
Lack of interest in personal hygiene.
Dr. Wala Wissam explained that the elderly doctor should be consulted when one of these symptoms occurs to describe the appropriate treatment, adding that the treatment of depression in the elderly is to provide psychological and social support and antidepressant medication, with some tips such as exercise, communicating with friends to reduce depression .