Hey everybody.
Today I'm going to talk with you about,
Depression and aging.
And more specifically,
How depression affects older adults.
Now the changes that we face in life as older adults,
Can be difficult.
And can create depression.
One of those being retirement.
Now many people get excited for this.
And we look forward to it.
But for some people,
They can experience feeling like a loss of purpose.
There is no real reason to get up in the morning.
They don't feel like they have anything they have to do.
And it can be really hard.
Another is loss of loved ones.
As we age,
Unfortunately those around us age as well.
And we can experience a lot of loss.
And we may even be struggling with our own medical issues.
As we age,
We know that our bodies deteriorate.
And there can be things that we struggle with.
And the last is,
Increased isolation.
Now I know, my grandparents talk a lot about feeling isolated.
That no one really comes around anymore.
And their best friend's spouse passed away and the other one moved into a home.
And it can be really difficult,
To not have as many friends and family around all of the time like we used to.
And a lot of these can create depression.
Or make our depression worse.
And when we are older,
Depression goes way beyond just our mood.
It can make us irritable.
It can affect our sleep.
And it can even cause us to gain or lose weight.
Now the main reason that I think this is a really important topic to start talking about,
To have people sharing.
And sharing their experiences.
Is because it often goes undiagnosed.
And I made a list of the ways that it goes undiagnosed, and why.
Because there are many ways in older adults,
That depression expresses itself so differently,
That doctors, psychiatrists, therapists,
May not notice.
Because they're not looking for the right symptoms.
Now some of the most common symptoms are,
That people who are older report being depressed without feeling sadness.
And that's one of the main things that we look for in younger adults and teens.
Is that they report feeling sad all of the time.
But many older adults don't feel sadness.
Another is that they have unexplained or aggravated aches and pains.
Now we all know that depression can feel very physical.
And it can make it hard to get out of bed.
And we can feel achy.
Well older adults feel this even more.
It can aggravate an old injury that they have had.
And they may think something else is wrong.
They may go to their doctor for a checkup.
But what's really going on has nothing to do with that old sports injury.
It's more to do with their depression.
Another is that they have anxiety and worry.
A lot of people report that they can't even sleep.
That their mind is running all of the time.
And they worry a lot.
And their heart will race.
And so they will go to the doctor for a check-up.
Because they think it's something physical.
Another is memory problems.
And obviously,
If we are struggling with memory problems.
We do need to go to a doctor.
Because we need to make sure that it isn't something else going on.
It could be Dementia.
Or any other kind of issue like that.
And we want to make sure that if our memory problems are due to our depression,
We have a physician who has assured us of that.
And another is slowed speech and movement.
It can be hard to get around.
Everything just feels really heavy.
A lot of patients report feeling like their limbs are just so heavy,
They don't even want to lift them.
And like I said before,
Irritability.
Can snap at people when they don't mean to.
They can, if they have help at their house,
Even their wife or a family member,
They, they're irritable.
They don't want them in their space.
And everything is frustrating.
And the last is neglect of personal care.
This could be anything from not showering,
And not taking care of the way that we look.
It can also be not feeding ourselves.
Not making sure that we're getting enough sleep.
Not drinking enough water.
Things that could overall help us feel better.
Because all of that just seems like too much work.
Now the thing that I want to make sure you hear,
If you hear nothing else that I say,
Is that depression doesn't make you weak.
It's not a character flaw.
It can happen to anyone.
Living anywhere.
At any age.
It doesn't discriminate.
Which is really unfortunate.
Everybody can struggle with it.
And there are also things that you're going to want to get checked out as well.
Because medications can even cause depression.
Beta Blockers.
And some blood pressure medications.
Can actually create depression-like symptoms.
And so you want to make sure you bring these things up to your doctor when you go.
To ask about this.
Okay, so we're struggling with depression.
Now what?
What do we do to cope?
What do we do to heal?
And there are so many things that we can do.
But the most effective.
And the ones that will help the most,
Are volunteering your time.
Getting out, helping others,
Sometimes I feel like when I go volunteer,
I get more out of it than they did.
Because it's that beneficial to our mood.
And just overall psyche.
And also exercise.
Getting out, moving around.
Just even getting out in the sunlight can really help us feel better.
And getting enough sleep.
Making sure that we're eating healthy.
And lastly,
Connecting with others.
I know that sometimes people may not come around.
And it used to easy to see everybody.
But maybe now we just have to put a little bit more effort in.
Maybe we need to make that call.
Maybe we need to set up times to get together.
We need to make that coffee date.
Or that lunch date.
Or put together a dinner and have the family over more often.
Because we all are human.
And we all crave connection with others.
That doesn't make us weird.
That's not something that makes us weak.
It's just the human nature.
It's what we all need and crave.
So get out there.
Get moving.
Talk to your doctor.
Because we all can feel better.
Depression isn't something we have to live with for the rest of our lives.
This is something that we can get diagnosed with,
We can understand it.
And we can cope.
And we can overcome.
And as always,
If you have any comments.
Anything that you would like to share about your own experience,
Or a video that you would like to see me produce.
Let us know below.
That's how I gauge what's important to you.
Because what's important to you,
Is important to me.
And don't forget to subscribe.
I put out videos all of the time.
And you don't want to miss them.
And make sure that you give this a like.
Because this helps youtube know,
And reminds youtube everyday.
How important mental health is.
[Bottom left video]
Extra shame on top of the eating disorder,
And the self harm behaviours.
Than people who are younger.
And it feels,
It just feels bad.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community