Are there mental health issues specific to aging?

Mz. Lady

Mz. Lady

New Member
Location
Arizona. South Carolina next? Mexico next?
Anxiety, excessive worrying and depression affect people of all ages. Decades ago people did not think that children suffered from depression. How wrong they were! I was recently asked to participate in a group focused on the mental health issues affecting the elderly. Since I can only really present my own feelings and not those of the entire aging population it would be very helpful to me to hear from all of you. What do you think are the top 3 mental health issues/concerns/needs of the elderly or aging population? Also, please indicate if you are female or male. It would be interesting to see if issues differ by gender. Thanks
 

Just surviving menopause is a challenge. Decreasing estrogen causes physical and mental challenges. Blood vessels shrinking definitely causes mental health issues. Mini strokes that many arenā€™t even aware of can cause bigger shifts in cognitive ability so YES aging cause mental decline.

Eating a healthy diet, hydrating well and doing some form of exercise can be incredibly helpful. Exercises that stretch the body and get the heart pumping a bit are helpful. Hanging your head so the blood flows to your brain for a few minutes a day is usually good also. If it makes you dizzy donā€™t do it. Ask your healthcare practitioner for advice.
 
I'm a male and my mental health has greatly improved since I stopped working. My biggest issues were stress and anxiety and being out of the workforce solved those issues.

Top three issues I hear discussed often.
1) Isolation
2) financial concerns
3)health issues
 

Many years ago, in Psychology 101, I learned about Erickson's theories of life stages: Erikson's Stages of Development
Or Erikson's Eight Stages of Development - GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog He therozed that every stage of life has internal conflicts that people have to negotiate in order to have happy, meaningful lives. In old age the conflict is between Ego Integrity and Despair.

I think his theories have a lot of value because I have seen older people in my own life who had a great deal of despair in old age. They worked hard, had friends, made meaningful contributions to society, but still had much despair in old age.

Therefore, I think, the older we get, the more we have to guard against falling into despair over mistakes we've made, how our kids maybe don't have much time for us, how we know our friends or spouse may die before us, how society in general really likes to discard its old people and leave them out (segregated housing, naming Covid the "Boomer Remover", blaming Baby Boomers for Climate Change as if 100% of us never voted for more intelligent, well-informed, less corrupt individuals vs. the people who got into office), and the other ways we can fall into despair over knowing our time is up.

So, yeah, I do think Seniors need to especially guard against despair. Ironically, I have read that generally speaking, Gen Z is dealing with a lot of despair over the future too.
 
Male. Around age 55 I began to experience occasional panic attacks. Never did find a trigger, but by 57 they were more frequent.

Started on an antidepressant, reacted to it with GI symptoms, switched to another. Xanax as a emergency backup. Worked fine and within a year went off all of it.

Began to reoccur around age 60, self-treated with fractional doses of leftover meds from before. Got through it but hardly free of symptoms. Faded though, but then came back around age 64. Went back to fractional (old) meds stretching the supply on hand, supplemented by breathing and meditation techniques. Controlled again, but with symptoms.

Last Summer the frequency of attacks rose until pretty close to daily. Went into a deep dive with doctors and still isolated no trigger. Made a few social changes though and went back on a daily low dose of antidepressant again, new prescription.

First two weeks were weird, no attacks but instead a constant dark cloud of "threat" of an attack hanging over my head. But soon after that faded and since then I've been free of any of the "clouds" or attacks.

The doctor thinks I should go another 3 months, evaluate, and perhaps taper off the medication. So far the prospects look good, and even a recent very difficult emotional upset hasn't made a dent in my calm. I'm not sure it would be different even off the meds though, the type of trauma involved is something I've lived through before and now I can externalize it.

Diagnosis and management of panic disorder in older patients - PubMed
Panic disorder occurs less frequently in the elderly than in younger adults and rarely starts for the first time in old age. Panic attacks that begin in late life should prompt the clinician to conduct a careful search for a depressive disorder, physical illness or drugs that could be contributing to their presence. When panic attacks do occur in the elderly, the symptoms are qualitatively similar to those experienced by younger people. The elderly, however, may have fewer and less severe symptoms and exhibit less avoidant behaviour. As panic disorder is typically a chronic or recurrent condition, its management requires a long-term approach. With the exception of one descriptive pilot study, there have been no randomised controlled trials of the treatment of panic disorder in later life. Therefore, recommendations regarding the management of this disorder in the elderly must be extrapolated from research pertaining to younger patients.
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So we'll see whether I get off the meds or stay with them for a while. I'm hopeful, but not foolish. I don't want to go back to living under that cloud.
 
I would like to mention something to consider. Retired mental health tech here, worked inpatient at our local hospital. Any time an elderly pt presented with "mental issues" the first thing we did was check to see if they had a urinary tract infection. UTI's can cause major confusion in elderly people, I believe because of toxins circulating through the bloodstream, and it responds very well to medication. Just something good to know.
 
My main PCP doctor sees many elderly people in her practice and feels Loneliness is a great cause of depression in the elderly.

And it is even worse if you live in an isolated are , as I do. But I found doing volunteer work, and joining a local senior coffee klatch, and keeping busy ay home, keeps the loneliness away. I try to call a few friends every week, and love it when they call me.

Cathy Horn- that is good info-a friend's mother who lived with her, thought her mother was getting dementia one day, but it was only a UTI. A UTI can be so painful that one stops drinking fluids, and thus they can act in odd ways due to dehydration.

I stay well hydrated all the time and never leave home without a bottle of water.
(I have purchased bottle spring water a few times, to have on hand if we lose power , but I keep the empty bottles and fill them with my own well water.)

I also believe in having goals-big ones or little ones-they give us a sense of accomplishment-
and also having multiple interests, reading, playing music, and even watching TV-I have watched the building of the Hoover Dam many times, on TV, how the Statue of Liberty got moved from France and put together in NY

And recently I watched a documentary on Normandy beach were the Germans had not only the Maginot line, but also had built structures for ammo and tanks, far inland from the beach,knowing the ships could not see those inland bunkers which were still within the firing range.

And yesterday I thought I did not get the YUM channel o TV but I tried it and it is great! I am from the original Emeril shows, and Iva Garten, and missed a good food channel! I miss Anthony Bourdain too- he has been gone for 6 years. So sad.
 
Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
it is even worse if you live in an isolated are , as I do. But I found doing volunteer work, and joining a local senior coffee klatch, and keeping busy ay home, keeps the loneliness away.
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One thing about isolated areas, some are even so isolated that there are no places to volunteer and no senior activities at all. Or as in my case, I depend on my huzz for transportation to the few activities they do have around here and he sometimes is eager and willing to take me and sometimes isn't.

You're right about staying busy about helping unless you're like me and absolutely despise the only things I have to keep me busy: housework (UGH!!!!) or trying to force myself to do creative stuff (DOUBLE UGH!!!!). Thanks goodness for books, TV and the internet.
 
Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
My main PCP doctor sees many elderly people in her practice and feels Loneliness is a great cause of depression in the elderly.

And it is even worse if you live in an isolated are , as I do. But I found doing volunteer work, and joining a local senior coffee klatch, and keeping busy ay home, keeps the loneliness away. I try to call a few friends every week, and love it when they call me.

Cathy Horn- that is good info-a friend's mother who lived with her, thought her mother was getting dementia one day, but it was only a UTI. A UTI can be so painful that one stops drinking fluids, and thus they can act in odd ways due to dehydration.

I stay well hydrated all the time and never leave home without a bottle of water.
(I have purchased bottle spring water a few times, to have on hand if we lose power , but I keep the empty bottles and fill them with my own well water.)

I also believe in having goals-big ones or little ones-they give us a sense of accomplishment-
and also having multiple interests, reading, playing music, and even watching TV-I have watched the building of the Hoover Dam many times, on TV, how the Statue of Liberty got moved from France and put together in NY

And recently I watched a documentary on Normandy beach were the Germans had not only the Maginot line, but also had built structures for ammo and tanks, far inland from the beach,knowing the ships could not see those inland bunkers which were still within the firing range.

And yesterday I thought I did not get the YUM channel o TV but I tried it and it is great! I am from the original Emeril shows, and Iva Garten, and missed a good food channel! I miss Anthony Bourdain too- he has been gone for 6 years. So sad.
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I also never leave home w/o water in a stainless steel container. I was never a fan of Bourdain's shows on CNN, I always felt they were aimed at the well-off in society who can afford to travel just to "experience" restaurants, but it was very tragic when he took his own life. Very sad indeed.

I wish our society, in some way, would give us more formal opportunities to teach the youngers. I think what many Seniors miss is feeling relevant to society. I think that's one reason why Seniors are fierce and fearless voters. Seniors are the ones watching C-SPAN, LOL. I don't mean for us to teach politics. I mean teach other stuff. Alas, would the youngers show up? No. They learn everything online now. Tell Seniors to go online more? How do we do that without getting doxxed, stalked, or harassed by the bad people online?
 
When I retired I worked as a companion aide in an assisted living complex. I was responsible for getting a sharp well-educated and affluent lady up in the morning and would learn that she could not get up because she spent most early morning hours trying to organize paperwork, bank statements etc. She told me that her anxiety increased with age. ā€œAll that crap about the Golden Years is not trueā€. She said that money does not do a thing for you when you are old. ā€œSpend it now, young lady. Youā€™ll seeā€.
I get what she was saying. I should have traveled more when young. Itā€™s harder when you get older. I donā€™t want new clothes, a new car, new furniture, even new SHOES. Lol
Iā€™d like my memory back. I canā€™t remember anything. Canā€™t buy that back. Iā€™d like it if nothing changed, like iPhone updates and Windows 11 or whatever it is now. I donā€™t even know how to use my TV. I am worried that I canā€™t keep taking care of my home, as it falls apart around me. And I really canā€™t take climate change. My house flooded last year and I lost everything in my basement.
If I lose my sense of humor, I am sunk.
 
Mz. Lady said:
Thank you all for your input. The comment about how awful being a nursing home would hit me like a mack truck! I would rather get in my car and drive off of a cliff (Thelma and Louise style) than be in a nursing home.
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Same here. I dread being in a nursing home and at the hands of staff younger than I who are justifiably resentful of how we Boomers either screwed things up or didn't work hard enough on already existing problems. (I'm thinking of getting a tattoo that says, "Recovering Boomer. Thank you for your patience." But I can't decide where it should go.)
 
officerripley said:
Same here. I dread being in a nursing home and at the hands of staff younger than I who are justifiably resentful of how we Boomers either screwed things up or didn't work hard enough on already existing problems. (I'm thinking of getting a tattoo that says, "Recovering Boomer. Thank you for your patience." But I can't decide where it should go.)
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I'm with Lynyrd Skynyrd: "When my time's up, I'll hold my own; you won't find me in an old folks home."
You got that right.
 
officerripley said:
Same here. I dread being in a nursing home and at the hands of staff younger than I who are justifiably resentful of how we Boomers either screwed things up or didn't work hard enough on already existing problems. (I'm thinking of getting a tattoo that says, "Recovering Boomer. Thank you for your patience." But I can't decide where it should go.)
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WRT screwing things up, speak for yourself. I was a low-paid photojournalist until I was laid off in 1999 at age 45. I never, ever made a policy decision...
So don't fcuking blame me.
 
Self image and self esteem
Depression. Anxiety
Dementia

I'm a female

I only said the mental health issues I could think of but there are a lot of other issues like SES, disability, socializing, physical problems.
 
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