Part B (Q7): Write a note on Depression and Suicide in older person.

Depression in Older Persons

Depression is the most prevalent mental health condition among the elderly, yet it remains drastically underdiagnosed. Society often mistakenly assumes that feeling sad or slowing down is just a "normal" part of getting old. It is not.

• Triggers: The elderly experience a "pile-up" of losses that younger people rarely face simultaneously. This includes the death of a lifelong spouse (bereavement), the loss of physical mobility (chronic pain from arthritis), the loss of identity and purpose post-retirement, and severe social isolation as peers die and nuclear families move away.
• Presentation: Unlike younger adults who may verbalize feelings of sadness, elderly depression often masks itself as physical ailments. They may present with chronic, unexplained pain, extreme fatigue, refusal to eat, or a sudden decline in memory and cognitive processing. This cognitive slowing is so profound it is often misdiagnosed as dementia (a condition known as "pseudodementia").

Suicide in Older Persons

The tragic consequence of untreated depression and isolation in the elderly is suicide. Globally, older adults (particularly men over the age of 75) have one of the highest suicide rates of any demographic.

• Risk Factors: The primary drivers are untreated clinical depression, profound loneliness, and the onset of a painful, debilitating physical illness. A major psychological trigger is the intense fear of becoming a burden on their children or facing institutionalization.
• Lethality: When older people attempt suicide, they are far more likely to die from the attempt than younger people. This is because they use more lethal means, they are physically more fragile (less likely to survive an overdose), and because they are often highly isolated, they are less likely to be discovered in time to be saved.
• Social Work Intervention: Social workers must actively screen for depression rather than waiting for the elderly to report it. Interventions include adapting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, arranging immediate psychiatric care, and intensely working to rebuild the person's social support network to combat the deadly isolation.