7 Methods to Observe “Depression” in the Elderly

1. Quiet, rarely talk. When the elders are irresponsive, the caregiver does not know how to talk to them favorably. Some families, therefore, leave the elderly to live alone, which is wrong. The suggestion for the caregiver is to provide affection for the elderly, frequently observe and care for their feelings, emotion and thoughts as well as let the elderly to express what they want or initiate the conversation that they are interested in, such as talking about their happy old time in which the caregiver should start the conversation and should not interrupt when they talk.

2. Eating less or rarely eating. When the elderly begins to eat less, their weight will significantly reduce without the intention of diet. This leads to the risk of malnutrition. The families should adjust the menu to boost the elderly’s appetite but choose easily digestive food that will not affect their congenital diseases.

3. Do not want to do anything, inactive, significantly lose interest in many things or do not want to talk to anybody, boresome and do not want to engage in what they used to like as well as appear no interest in taking care of themselves which contradicts to their previous persona, less likely to be able to help themselves even it is their daily routine, i.e., dressing up. If the elderly in your family has these symptoms, we suggest that the caretaker motivates them to engage in various activities, especially the easy one, so the elderly feels proud of themselves. In addition, the elderly should be encouraged to look after their own health, for example, brush their teeth and take care of their dental health, mildly exercise and move their bodies, or if they have sighting problems, they should be taken to see ophthalmologists to check up their sight and wear glasses, or treat the sighting problem to reduce an accident occurred by the inability to see.

4. Like to spend time in their beds and do not want to go anywhere although they are frequently asked to. If the elderly is isolating themselves, we suggest that the family approaches and that the family finds some activities for the elderly to do. It should start with a minor activity within the family, because if you let the elderly isolate themselves more, their emotion will be worsened.

5. Cannot sleep or sleep too much almost every day, sleeping problem. If they cannot sleep at night, you may ask them to engage in some light activities such as listening to music, reading books or listening to dhamma. If they cannot sleep continually for 3 – 4 days or more, they should see a doctor for further treatment. If they like to sleep during daytime, they should be advised to sleep from 12 AM – 2 PM, given that sleeping too much during the day will affect sleeping at nighttime.

6. Mood swing, moody. If the elderly is easily mad, angry or complaining, the family and caregiver should not argue or raise your voice back, because the more you argue, the moodier they will get, which also ruins the caregiver mood in return. What you should do is to listen to them understandably, let them express their feelings and find a solution to decrease their temper as well as try to manipulate their interest to something else or you may massage their hands while talking to reduce their anger.

7. Always complain that they are the families’ burden, they feel devalued more than usual almost every day when they get bored of themselves, have suicidal thought or want to injure themselves. If the elderly has these symptoms, the caregiver should observe any minor incidents that may indicate their thought to hurt themselves and closely look after and not lose sight of them as well as try to find the value in the elderly and inform them accordingly. You also should be a good listener, not criticize their opinion, on top of that, you should not say that their problems are trivial, or you should take them to see a doctor for further planning to take care of the elderly appropriately.

Understand Late-Life Depression

There are 2 types of late-life depression in the elderly, which are the depression that has already occurred before they enter the elderly age, and the depression that has occurred when they enter the elderly age. Late-life depression can be found up to 10 – 20% of the population and majority of them are females, especially in the divorcees, or those who live alone or lose their loved ones, or have chronic diseases that cannot be fully cured, such as cancer, or even be surrounded by a family where they cannot express their feelings to anyone. All of these will increase the risk of the elderly having depression.

How to help the elderly who have depression?

Depression is caused by many factors, it comes from imbalanced brain function, physical and mental changes, society, environment and loss experience, hence, the treatment is necessarily to be integrated by many areas.

For more consultation: Baan Hormlamduan Nursing Home, Soi Vibhavadi 44, Bangkok
Please contact Khun Kornrawee Sanduang for further information via phone number 091-3331-909 or Facebook ศูนย์ดูแลผู้สูงอายุบ้านหอมลำดวน.