Depression is a major issue for both younger people and the elderly. However, in the elderly, a completely different approach is needed in order to combat the problem effectively. The medical needs here are different, and depression can manifest in different ways. Sometimes, they might not even know that they are suffering from depression, and this alone makes it a must that they have someone in their lives that will spend time with them and truly care about them.
As you might have guessed, sometimes, a big part of the problem is that many seniors are lonely. This can exacerbate the problem, and it’s an easy solution to combating depression. Even if your elderly loved one is very healthy physically, hiring an in-home caregiver can solve the problem. The caregiver must have certain traits, though, and this might not be quite as easy to come by. For example, if you hire a random person off the street, there’s no guarantee that they will be loving and compassionate. There’s no guarantee that they will be able to provide the sincere attention that’s needed to show someone that they are being cared for and cared about. Anyone can go through the motions of providing assistance. This is not enough. Your mother or father, grandmother or grandfather, whoever, is smart enough to know when someone is not being sincere. You will need to spend some time finding a great caregiver, and this requires some effort by you.
Depression has a particularly profound impact upon the elderly for many reasons. One, this is a generation that has been conditioned to believe that depression is a character flaw. This is a tough concept to overcome, but the bottom line is, depression is not a character flaw. It’s not a sign of weakness, and it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a medical issue, and in the vast majority of instances, it can be overcome. However, approaching it from this flawed mindset makes that almost impossible to do.
Another reason why depression is tough within the elderly community is the fact that there are often other medical issues in the mix. This can make the medication side of things very difficult as antidepressants are not always compatible with other drugs. It also makes exercise a lot tougher since many seniors have disabilities that make exercise tough. This leaves counseling as a universal mode of treatment, but thanks to the difficulty that many have with traveling out of the home, this is even difficult for some people.
Having a professional caregiver on your team won’t eliminate every problem that you face, but it can help with some of them. For example, some caregiver services will provide transportation to and from medical appointments, and this includes therapy appointments. By taking this into account when you hire a caregiver, you will be one step closer to finding the right caregiver for your family, and that just leaves finding someone who cares about your family almost as much as you do.
Leave a Reply