According to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2016), “depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” It is more than just being sad; it is a weakness that you cannot snap out of easily. The National Institute of Mental Health divided depression into three categories. These include major depression, persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia), and minor depression. Major depression has severe symptoms that interfere with your ability to work, sleep, concentrate, eat, and enjoy life either during one episode or multiple episodes. Dysthymia is similar to major depression, but less severe and my last a long time. Lastly, minor depression is the least severe and do not last a long time (NIH). The signs and
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One is particular is the Geriatric Depression Scale, developed by Yesavage et al., compromised of 30 items and is intended to identify depression in psychiatric and hospital populations. In addition to that there is a later, shorter version with 15 items suitable for primary care. The diagnoses are then confirmed or rejected by the criteria of DSM-IV (Modig, Midlov, Kritensson, 2014). Other scales used to screen the mental statuses of the elderly including Standardized Mini Mental Test (SMMT), Functional Activity Scores (FAS), and SF 36 Quality of Life Scale. SMMT is used to asses the mental status of the elderly individual, assessing cognitive function under the categories of orientation, memory, attention and calculation, recall and language. A score of 26 or higher indicates a normal cognitive function. The FAS is used to evaluate functional independence. And the SF 36 Quality of Life Scale is used to determine the quality of life from different aspects (ONAT, Ş. Ş., DELİALİOĞLU, S. Ü., & UÇAR, D., …show more content…
Seeking treatment is an important step after diagnosing depression. Depression should be treated because it can lead to suicide or the development of a physical illness. Treatment options include medication and psychotherapy. Treatment is personalized based on the individual’s symptoms and body. The medicine used to treat depression is called an antidepressant. When it comes to the effect of the antidepressant there is little to no difference in the type being used on the elderly. Two types of antidepressants include Citalopram, Sertaline and Mirtazapine. Citalopram and Sertaline have low inhibiting effects on metabolizing enzymes and have therefore been considered suitable for old patients. But, Mirtazapine is recommended for elderly, especially when anxiety or sleeping disorder is prominent (Modig, Midlov, Kritensson, 2014). Psychotherapy helps by teaching new ways of thinking and behaving, and changing habits that may contribute to the depression (NIH). Complementary therapies help as well. Those include yoga, exercise, and certain daily supplements. Electroconvulsive therapy is used for severe depression that stimulates the brain directly with electricity, magnets, or implants
One is particular is the Geriatric Depression Scale, developed by Yesavage et al., compromised of 30 items and is intended to identify depression in psychiatric and hospital populations. In addition to that there is a later, shorter version with 15 items suitable for primary care. The diagnoses are then confirmed or rejected by the criteria of DSM-IV (Modig, Midlov, Kritensson, 2014). Other scales used to screen the mental statuses of the elderly including Standardized Mini Mental Test (SMMT), Functional Activity Scores (FAS), and SF 36 Quality of Life Scale. SMMT is used to asses the mental status of the elderly individual, assessing cognitive function under the categories of orientation, memory, attention and calculation, recall and language. A score of 26 or higher indicates a normal cognitive function. The FAS is used to evaluate functional independence. And the SF 36 Quality of Life Scale is used to determine the quality of life from different aspects (ONAT, Ş. Ş., DELİALİOĞLU, S. Ü., & UÇAR, D., …show more content…
Seeking treatment is an important step after diagnosing depression. Depression should be treated because it can lead to suicide or the development of a physical illness. Treatment options include medication and psychotherapy. Treatment is personalized based on the individual’s symptoms and body. The medicine used to treat depression is called an antidepressant. When it comes to the effect of the antidepressant there is little to no difference in the type being used on the elderly. Two types of antidepressants include Citalopram, Sertaline and Mirtazapine. Citalopram and Sertaline have low inhibiting effects on metabolizing enzymes and have therefore been considered suitable for old patients. But, Mirtazapine is recommended for elderly, especially when anxiety or sleeping disorder is prominent (Modig, Midlov, Kritensson, 2014). Psychotherapy helps by teaching new ways of thinking and behaving, and changing habits that may contribute to the depression (NIH). Complementary therapies help as well. Those include yoga, exercise, and certain daily supplements. Electroconvulsive therapy is used for severe depression that stimulates the brain directly with electricity, magnets, or implants