How To Assist Seniors In Coping With Mental Health Issues?

Treating chronic mental illnesses in seniors involves plenty of challenges. As seniors age, it is obvious for them to develop mental health issues. Consequently, the senior’s treatment plan needs to be adjusted as the body develops new health conditions.

The doctors treating the seniors also find it hard to figure out the symptoms of the mental illnesses due to some medications or conditions like dementia. This is usually the case with primary care physicians and psychiatrists.

The research says that nearly 14.5 % of Seniors live with a mental and emotional disorder. Let us understand the mental health issues in seniors and how to help them to cope with them in this article outlined below.

Mental Illness In Seniors

Mental health issues in seniors are not a sign of weakness or a character flaw. Instead of this, these issues tend to impact an individual’s thinking, mood, and other functions daily. Treating mental disorders or mental health issues in seniors is quite complicated.

Some of the symptoms of mental health issues include depression and memory lapses. Usually, people tend to treat these symptoms as normal due to which seniors lack the care they need.
Due to the multiple medications given to seniors and the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, it becomes difficult for the physician to diagnose mental health issues in seniors.

Besides this, there are inadequate support systems and limited mobility including poor follow-up makes it difficult for seniors to get the desired treatment.

Common Mental Health Issues In Seniors

Dementia and depression are the most common mental health issues seniors tend to experience. Besides this, there are plenty of other mental health issues which might be less common but still are a cause of concern. The other mental health issues are:

Eating disorders
Substance use disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Dissociative disorders
Bipolar disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder

Ways To Help Seniors To Deal With Mental Health Issues

There are numerous ways to help seniors manage their mental health and ensure that they get the proper care they are looking for. Here are some of the ways outlined below.

Maintain a medical file for the seniors at your home including their important information such as name, date of birth, current medications, dosages, responses, vitamins and supplements they take, and the conditions they are suffering from and the ones getting treated.

Schedule an appointment with a doctor and discuss the senior’s medication routine, dosages they take, and the side effects they are experiencing. Ensure that the senior is comfortable with the doctor.

Ask the doctor about the ongoing medications of the senior or the new drugs which need to be stopped. If you are stopping any medications, make sure that everything happens under a doctor’s supervision.

If the doctor has introduced some new medications, always discuss with the doctor about their working, risks, benefits, side effects, and cost of each. Also, ask if there are any foods that seniors need to avoid.

Remind the seniors often about the doctor’s appointments, therapies, supplements, or vitamins so that they take them at the prescribed time.

Accompany seniors to the doctor’s appointments and make detailed notes on whatever the doctor is saying.

Conduct research from reputable websites to find out more about the mental health issues they are facing.

Review all the medications, vitamins, and supplements by meeting the doctor at least once a year and stopping the medications that are no longer needed.

Persuade seniors to also seek social support as isolation can aggravate the feeling of depression. Consequently, having a solid network of social support is a must for seniors.

Ask them to indulge in light physical activity for treating depression, anxiety, and mood disorders.

Always take note of the senior’s overall mood if you notice any changes in the senior’s mood or behavior.