Essay On What Factors And Losses May Contribute To Depression In Older Adults

What factors and losses may contribute to depression in older adults?

As people age, a lot of changes occur that may not necessarily be so easy to handle. One huge change that most of the time people look forward to being retirement. With retirement comes a loss of work responsibilities. People may feel like they are less important once they retire, because they no longer have these work roles. Most of the time, older adults have worked nearly their whole life, and with the loss of these work roles, they may not know their place in society any longer. Along with retirement, older adults may face a financial decline, which can also put a stress on someone, and can eventually lead to depression. Other losses that occur as people age is the loss of family and close friends. This may then lead to feelings of loneliness. Loss of a spouse is also a loss that occurs that can be traumatic for an older adult. Even being mentally prepared for these losses and changes in life, does …show more content…
This population is often suffering from a decline in financial status. The reason they are at such high risk for developing depression is because they have less access to healthcare, especially when it comes to mental healthcare. They may not be able to afford this kind of care. These individuals may not be able to afford medications, even if they are prescribed to them. Another issue may be that they are unable to arrange or afford transportation to get to appointments with their physicians, so they simply do not go to the doctor. These patients also are likely to already be suffering from chronic illnesses which is already tough to deal with. Along with all of these other issues, older adults may be suffering from social isolation, which leads to loneliness and depression. Loneliness by itself can lead to depression not to mention all the other factors that are being thrown at these