Mental health in the elderly is one of the health domains that we do not care about much. On the contrary, this needs our special care and attention so that we would be able to give our parents or grandparents, the life they deserve at the dusk of their lives. Mental health issues can be a lot, especially during the last stage of human life.
Even the boldest, and the most independent of the people may become sensitive even to the most minor and silly things in life. As adults and sensible individuals, we are the ones who should accept and take over the responsibility to understand their emotions better, respond to them in a mature manner, and suppress anger and temperament in front of them, in order to build a maintain a good familial atmosphere and social life.
There are a lot of things that we should take care of if we are dealing with an elderly person in our homes or around our surroundings. This article is all about the things you should know about the mental health of elderly people, the reasons for their mental health problems, the major mental issues they are facing, and the easiest and the most effective ways we can resolve their issues and contribute to their mental well-being.
Reasons Of Mental Health Problems In The Elderly
Mental health issues in the elderly are increasing day by day and one of the major reasons behind this is isolation. Most of the elderly people are isolated in their households these days. The other people in the house would be working and everyone would be out of the house for most of the time. Sometimes, the children and grandchildren would not be with them since they have already moved out from the ancestral house or many of them have also migrated.
If you are daily commuting from their house for work, make sure you spend some quality time with them after your working hours. Taking them outside for a small stroll or dinner occasionally would also help to improve their mental health.
Encouraging a rapport between the elderly and the children in your household can also do wonders for the overall mental health of your family. If you are not physically present with them, make sure you are communicating well and enough through phone on a daily basis, and expressing your genuine words of love, care, and reassurance. If possible try to book tickets and pay them a visit since that could make significant changes in the mental well-being of the elderly by helping them fight with isolation and stay hopeful for the next visit.
Another important reason for the mental health issues found in elderly persons is dementia. Dementia itself is an acute mental illness on its own, but it can also be the reason for a lot of mental health issues that come along. In such situations, the best thing you can do is to give the best medications, therapy, and the best treatment to them by consulting a specialist who has got a track record of curing such conditions.
Even while giving them medications, and clinical treatment, make sure you are treating them properly and showering them with love, care, and support, so that they will get that energy to regain memories slowly and steadily and thus get back to the former lane of memory. People with dementia may also express suicidal tendencies so it is quite important to keep an eye on them in order to prevent any sort of possible casualties.
In some cases, the treatment may not be effective in getting back the individual to their former memory. Even in such cases, make sure that you are comforting them and helping them stay relaxed, which would be a great relief for them rather than being completely lost in one’s mind and memories.
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Wrap Up
It is also quite common that, people ignore the symptoms found in elderly people related to mental health. They can get easily ignored by stating as normal to the age group they are currently in. However, the lack of treatment may often make the condition worse. And it is also important to note that, if you could give proper treatment and medical care in the early stage itself, like any other disease, you may be able to heal them completely and give them the colours of their life back.
