Depression In The Elderly - Depression Self Help

By Leeanne Utiger
Depression is a common mental illness that many suffer from. Some people can suffer form mild depression, while other people can suffer from severe depression. Anyone can suffer from depression, at any given time in their lives. That said, means that even the elderly can and often do suffer from a level of depression. This article is going to give you some information on depression in the elderly and how the elderly can self help themselves with their depression condition.

As we age, our body starts to weaken and not want to function as adequately as it once did. This brings on illness and sicknesses, called medical conditions that one has to live with each day onwards. This therefore is very much a cause for depression in the elderly. Depression has been associated with depression for a very long time now. This is simply because having a long term illness can get one down and make one feel run down both physically and mentally, therefore bringing on bouts of depression.

It is also proven that the loss of family support or a wife or husband who an elderly person has spent years with, can also cause depression in the elderly. The sense and feeling of now being alone without that support can be very daunting and depressing. Often it is hard to diagnose an elderly person with depression as due to the aging process an elderly person slows down in things anyway.

Depression tends to exist for longer periods of time in an elderly person, and often will remain with that person until they pass away. It is even said that depression in the elderly can and in some cases cause death itself. Given what I have just said, it is of extreme importance that if you have concerns of an elderly person possibly suffering from depression that you help them get diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. You could be saving this elderly persons life. And in the meantime, relieving them of their depressive state of mind. The scariest fact of all regarding depression in the elderly, is that if the depression is not diagnosed, an elderly person suffering from depression can and will commit suicide. You may have heard or already known about the risks of teenagers who suffer from depression, and how a teenager can have suicidal tendencies due to having to cope with depression, well the same can be said for the elderly who suffer from depression.

Now I am going to go into brief detail on how an elderly person can help themselves fight against depression. This is called self help. If a person is motivated enough, they can self help themselves quite successfully fight against depression, and in the meantime will make their bodies feel fitter and gain more energy at the same time. Exercise in the elderly is a great self help treatment for depression. An elderly person with depression can help them self by doing regular moderate exercise on a weekly basis. This may simply be a walk out and about among their surroundings for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Self help does not mean the elderly have to exercise rigorously. That just would not be a possibility.

Another form of self help for an elderly person who suffers from depression is to gather support around themselves. Call on any family members or friends they may have. If an elderly person lives in a rest home, it is suggested that this elderly person makes new friends. Anyone who has the motivation to self help them self will manage. Self help is all about willpower and frame of mind. If an elderly person who has depression has good support, then their motivation to self help them self will more than likely be higher.
An elderly person with depression can also self them self by making sure they are getting enough sleep. Sleep is imperative to helping with depression, and this form of self help is not excluded to the elderly age bracket.

Now that you know a little more about the risks involved with the elderly having depression and how an elderly person who suffers from depression can help them self, take a moment to consider the elderly people that you know. Is it possible that they may suffer from depression? Are you being as supportive to the elderly people that you know as you can be? Every little bit of concern and support really does count in this world of today.

See Also:
Self improvement, motivation and self healing guides

Self Help For Depression

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