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Jewish World Review
Oct. 31, 2005
/ 28 Tishrei, 5766
Depression often misdiagnosed in the elderly
By
Jan L. Warner & Jan Collins
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Q: Since my mother's death early this year, my husband and I have
gone to visit my 81-year-old father several times a week. We thought
he was doing wonderfully until six weeks ago when we noticed he was
becoming more distant and looked very sluggish. When I peeked in his
refrigerator, I found it to be nearly empty, and what was there was
spoiled. His house, which had been immaculate, was disheveled, he
had noticeably lost weight and he wasn't interested in visiting.
Since I am the only child within 500 miles, I feel responsible. Dad
denies any problems and refuses to see his doctor, who won't talk to
me without some type of release. Owing to his forgetfulness, my
husband and I believe Dad has early signs of dementia, but we are
frustrated because we can't find out what is wrong and how to treat
him.
A: Because of your frequent visits, you and your husband are
probably the best reporters of historical data to your father's
physician; however, without a release signed by your dad, you will
not get any information from his doctor. Not being able to interact
with your father's medical providers is quite an impediment to
assuring that a parent receives appropriate treatment. That said, if
you try to coax your father into signing a medical authorization, he
may assent voluntarily or he may become antagonistic.
Regardless of the outcome, we believe your father may not be
suffering from dementia, which, unfortunately, almost everyone is
too quick to use as a diagnosis. Instead, his problem could be
depression an affliction that many say is the most pervasive
mental illness facing older Americans but few recognize as the
underlying problem.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
depression involves a dozen fundamental symptoms: (1) ongoing
sadness or anxiety; (2) lack of interest in common activities; (3)
lack of energy; (4) changed sleeping patterns; (5) changed eating
patterns; (6) problems in making decisions or recalling things; (7)
being distracted; (8) feeling worthless; (9) having suicidal or
death thoughts; (10) being in bad moods; (11) crying regularly; and
(12) having chronic aches without physical diagnoses.
It may be easy to ignore one or two symptoms when dealing with older
Americans. But when you see three or more over a period of several
weeks, it may well be that your dad is clinically depressed.
Depression can be caused by the side effects of medications,
alcohol, physical health issues, genetic personality traits and
major lifestyle changes. The good news is, once depression has been
diagnosed, it can be treated with a very high success rate. However,
like any illness, early intervention and treatment are essential.
In conversing with experts in geriatrics, we believe that, even if
your father's physician will not talk, you should make sure he or
she is aware of the problem. If the physician still won't talk
because of privacy issues, we suggest you write him or her and
outline your fears. You may also want to try an experienced
geriatric-care manager (www.caremanager.org) in an effort to gain
your father's cooperation. But at the same time, you should consider
frank discussions with him about your concerns for his safety.
Obviously, it is best to have an authorization or a durable
health-care power of attorney so the physician will be free to
discuss these issues with you. However, if you feel you must act
because of safety concerns, we suggest contacting a lawyer
well-versed in guardianship and conservatorship matters to discuss
whether your father is sufficiently incapacitated to justify court
intervention. In our view, this should be your last option; but it
may be necessary to protect him.
Since these types of problems are difficult for family members to
face and deal with successfully, it is wise to read up on depression
issues in books or over the Internet to learn as much as you
can about this most prevalent problem.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JAN L. WARNER received his A.B. and J.D. degrees from the University of South Carolina and earned a Master of Legal Letters (L.L.M.) in Taxation from the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a frequent lecturer at legal education and public information programs throughout the United States. His articles have been published in national and state legal publications. Jan Collins began co-authoring Flying SoloŽ in 1989. She has more than 27 years of experience as a journalist, writer, and editor. To comment or ask a question, please click here.
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© 2005, Jan Warner
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