A friend told Hua Zi that her mother had been acting strangely recently, sometimes saying that she was flustered, chest tight, and feeling sick all over her body, but she took her to the hospital several times for examination, but she couldn’t find anything. specific disease. But sometimes, I become ignorant of people, and my mood is low. It takes a few words to get a response. What’s wrong?
Hua Zi said that if the hospital examination ruled out organic lesions, the elderly with these symptoms should beware of depression. Because senile depression is relatively insidious, the elderly will express their emotional pain in the form of physical symptoms.
First, the elderly are prone to depression
Depression is an “invisible, intangible” mental illness that affects approximately 11% of the population and is more common in older adults. But depression is not as obvious as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and “three high” chronic diseases, so it is easy to be ignored. The impact of depression on people cannot be underestimated. The suicide rate of the elderly is significantly higher than that of other age groups.
There are 3 reasons why older adults are more prone to depression:
1. Primary Depression: Depression in people who already suffer from depression progresses with age and worsens in old age.
2. Depression due to long-term diseases: The elderly are prone to major organic diseases, such as stroke, diabetic foot, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and heart failure Depression occurs when suffering from diseases with a high disability rate and suffering from diseases for a long time.
3. Depression caused by aging: Aging leads to sclerosis of cerebral arteries, decreased blood supply, and decreased secretion of neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, serotonin, etc.), Depression can also occur.
Second, the diagnosis of geriatric depression is a difficult problem
Depression is a mental illness that is difficult for the elderly to understand, but the pain caused by the illness will always exist, and it may be repetitive Gastrointestinal discomfort, palpitations, chest tightness, dyspnea and other physical symptoms, but in fact, these are physical expressions of emotional pain.
Some older adults may be depressed, depressed, and less responsive to external stimuli, feeling “old and confused”; there are also older adults They often need their children to accompany them, or feel that they are suffering from a serious illness, and ask their children to take them to the hospital for examination, but the cause cannot be found, but they will repeatedly ask for examinations, it feels like they are making trouble without reason strong>.
The elderly do not admit that they are suffering from “mental illness”, and will only repeatedly visit the departments of cardiology, digestion, neurology and other departments instead of psychiatry, which leads to an extremely high rate of misdiagnosis of depression in the elderly high.
Third, elderly depression can be treated
Older people are advised to go to the psychiatric clinic for diagnosis and treatment when they have emotional changes or physical symptoms for which the cause cannot be found after repeated visits to the doctor. If you are diagnosed with depression, you should seek treatment under the guidance of your doctor. It should be noted that depression has a longer course and may recur, so long-term treatment is required.
In the treatment of depression in the elderly, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are more commonly used, such as sertraline, citalopram, paclitaxel Drugs such as Roxetine. If SSRIs do not work well, dual-channel antidepressants (SNRIs), such as venlafaxine and duloxetine, can also be used.
However, it should be noted that the elderly have many underlying diseases and complicated medication. When choosing a drug, attention should be paid to the interaction with other drugs.
To sum up, senile depression is a hidden disease, usually difficult for the elderly to know, but it may be manifested through emotional changes and physical symptoms, which requires more attention from relatives and friends around , Be more understanding and tolerant of the elderly, it is very likely that the elderly are not making trouble unreasonably, but are just sick. If you can’t find the cause in other departments, you can go to the psychiatric clinic to try it out.
The medicine should be used under the guidance of a doctor. If you have any doubts about the medicine, please consult your doctor or pharmacist. I am Huazi, a pharmacist. Welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.