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Myths circulate about older adults, their mental health and their memory functioning. The public assumes that older adults are memory impaired, frail, depressed and lonely. They are presumed to have difficulties in coping with everyday tasks and are set in their ways while being dependent on others.
The truth is that changes in memory functioning vary from person to person. In older adults, learning rate does slow with aging, repetition is needed to acquire new information, and sustaining attention is more difficult. However, short-term memory shows less age-related decline and long-term memory shows greater loss for tasks requiring recall rather than recognition. The ability to abstract also shows some decline. Nevertheless, the overall impact of practical experience, which many of us call wisdom, continues to the end of life.
However, what about depression in older adults? Interestingly enough, older adults generally exhibit more life satisfaction, have a positive outlook, and have fewer psychological disorders than younger adults have. Compared to younger adults, older adults living in the community have less severe symptoms. If older adults complain about their memory it may mean that they are also depressed. However, when older adults receive memory training exercises combined with group discussions of their memory complaints, these complaints decrease and memory functioning improves. Depression impairs memory functioning, so treatment of depressed mood in older adults is very helpful whether there are just memory complaints or actual depression.
A recent study investigated the effects of psychological treatment of depression on death associated with depression. It is known that depression is a risk factor for mortality in older adults. In this study, more than 1200 patients in 20 primary care practices in eastern cities were evaluated for evidence of depression. In these primary care practices, depressed patients were randomly assigned to care managers who provided care for depression including psychotherapy. Another group of patients received usual care, which included educational sessions for primary care physicians, families of patients, and care managers. No specific recommendations were made about individual patients except in the care of emergencies.
Results indicate that 397 patients met the criteria for major depression while 203 patients met the criteria for clinically significant minor depression. After 52 months, patients diagnosed with major depression were less likely to have died if treated with psychotherapy, even those also diagnosed with cancer. These are only some of the findings that support the benefits of psychological treatments for older adults. Psychologists are qualified by training and experience to provide these evidence-based treatments and it is clear that older adults benefit by such psychological treatments.
Author: Norman Abeles, Ph.D. is the Director of the Clinical Neuropsychological Laboratory and Memory Assessment Center at Michigan State University. Dr. Abeles is a member of the National Register Board of Directors. |
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