What other problems affect treatment of depression in the elderly?
The stigma attached to mental illness and psychiatric treatment is even more powerful among the elderly than among younger people. That kind of thinking is also often shared by members of the patient’s family, friends, and neighbors. This stigma can keep elderly patients from acknowledging they are depressed, even to themselves. Depression may be expressed through physical complaints rather than traditional symptoms. That delays appropriate treatment. In addition, depressed older people may not report their depression because they believe there is no hope for help. Elderly people may also be unwilling to take their medicines because of side effects or cost. In addition, having certain other illnesses at the same time as depression can interfere with the effectiveness of antidepressant medicines. Alcoholism and abuse of other substances may interfere with effective treatment. And unhappy life events — including the death of family or friends, poverty, and isolation — may also affect t
