Health & Wellbeing – Mental Health
Looking after your mental health Mental health is an important factor in living a happy and healthy life. And especially for older Australians, your mental health can be critical to your overall health and wellbeing, which enables you to live at home for as long as possible.
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ne in five Australians experience a mental health condition in their lives. A large number of older people regularly experience feelings of anxiety or depression. And one in twenty people over the age of 65 will have a diagnosed depressive disorder or an anxiety disorder. Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Ageing, Cognition and Wellbeing at Macquarie University, explains that feelings of depression and anxiety occur often to people in residential aged care or to older people with chronic health conditions. “Anxiety and depression can pop up for the first time in later life or it can be something someone has
experienced on and off through their lifespan,” she says.
Seek help The good news is though that it’s never too late to seek help and according to Professor Wuthrich, seniors generally respond well to treatment. “Once older people are told they have depression, then they are actually really willing [to get treatment]. Research has shown that they are really good candidates for psychological treatment. “They are much more reliable, they do their homework more consistently, and they actually get better treatment outcomes because
once they understand, they are really dedicated.” Some common reasons for symptoms of depression and anxiety in older people include: ◆ Health, where health issues start to play a part or you end up hospitalised ◆ Losses, whether that means retirement, family moving away, the death of loved ones, or the loss of physical abilities, like not being able to play golf or not being able to see well enough to drive ◆ General life stresses, such as financial problems, marital conflict, and more Be honest with yourself if you are suddenly experiencing depression or anxiety from difficult events in your life. Depression or anxiety in seniors can be hard to diagnose. Research has shown that a lot of GPs, clinicians and even psychologists believe that depression and anxiety are just expected for older people to experience, so they won’t encourage the person to seek treatment.
Not normal Professor Wuthrich says, “The thing that is really interesting about anxiety and depression in older people is that if it is not treated, it actually has really serious consequences. “We know you are more likely to die early, you are more likely to have worse physical health, you are more likely to develop dementia. Of course, you are also at risk of suicide or self-harm, the same as other populations. “There are lots of reasons why we should be trying to actually treat this, while usually we kind of ignore it and dismiss it, like ‘It’s normal when you are old to get grumpy and
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Your Retirement Living – 8th edition
