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Management of Late‐life Depression
Author(s) -
Snowdon John
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1998.tb00033.x
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , melancholia , psychosocial , situational ethics , psychiatry , psychology , psychological intervention , management of depression , clinical psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , cognition , primary care , social psychology , family medicine , economics , macroeconomics
. Assessment is the vital first step in management of late‐life depression. Somatic treatments are more likely than psychological approaches to be effective in relieving melancholia, psychotic depression and bipolar depressive swings. However, if severe depressions are associated with brain changes (eg. white matter lesions), recovery is less likely. A complex interplay of psychological and organic factors may account for depressions associated with medical conditions. Physical handicap has a strong association with depression. Psychological and psychosocial interventions may be appropriate in managing non‐melancholic, loss‐related or situational depressions, though antidepressants are also effective in many cases. Research is needed to compare the effectiveness of antidepressants and non‐pharmacological treatments in non‐melancholic and ‘;understandable’ depressions. An optimistic and persistent approach will lead to a good and maintained outcome in most cases of depression, in spite of the losses of old age.