Depression can be a common occurrence in seniors, and the causes of it can be one of many reasons. It can stem from a side effect from medications or the beginnings of dementia. It can be from the senior feeling lonely or abandoned by friends or family. It could also be from insomnia issues. If it is depression, then seeing a doctor for treatment will help with concentration and help reviving memory and energy levels. If it’s a type of dementia causing depression, some types of depression with dementia can be halted, slowed or even reversed.
Face to face contact is important
If your loved one is suffering from depression, it’s important to limit the time the person is alone. Making sure your senior is visited, or at least keeps in touch through the phone or email is important. Also, face time on a computer with family and friends is helpful in making senior loved ones feel involved. In addition, having seniors join a senior center, be volunteers or making sure that they have transportation to have lunch with a friend or friends is helpful. Social interaction is an important prevention method for depression reoccurrences.
More tips for your loved one
If your senior is capable of caring for a pet, consider his or her adoption of a pet for company as an option. Many shelters have dogs and cats who are also seniors and looking to spend their golden years with a loving owner. Additionally, walking a dog is a great way for seniors to get out and meet people and other pet owners. Cats are less maintenance and can be great loving companions too.
Also, make sure that your senior is eating healthy because when a person is depressed, sometimes eating healthy is the last thing on the mind. Your loved one could just be grabbing whatever is handy and eating it, or even not eating at all. By making sure your senior is eating correctly, however, this can go a long way in helping to ward off depression to begin with. Additionally, by taking care of their bodies by eating properly seniors will feel better in the long run. This is because when a person doesn’t eat, it can make the depression worse by causing fatigue and irritability.
Sleeping and alcohol use
Sometimes an older person has trouble sleeping at night. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but simply that as people age how they sleep may change. Disturbed sleep on the other hand is when the person wakes up tired everyday no matter how much sleep has been gotten. Because a good night’s sleep helps with concentration and memory, lack of sleep causes the opposite. Seniors seeing a doctor is important when this is happening.
In addition, if the senior uses too much alcohol which may be done to deal with an emotional or physical pain, it can make the symptoms of depression worsen the longer it’s used. Alcohol also interacts with different medications in negative ways.
If your senior is depressed, getting professional help and finding the root of the issue is important. It could be a life situation, a medical problem or loneliness. Once the cause is found, the cure is usually not far behind.