DEPRESSION IN THE ELDERLY : Myths and Misconceptions - 11/09/11

Doi : 10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70396-8

Dan G. Blazer, MD, PhD

^a From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Resumen

Near the end of his life, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow^{35 Going On: Ideas About Aging New York: Van Nostrand (1984).
281 (quotation from Table-Talk by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1882).

Haga clic aquí para ir a la sección de Referencias} was standing at his front door when a woman dressed in black came up to him and asked: “Is this the house where Longfellow was born?” He replied: “No, he was not born here.” “Did he die here?” “Not yet,” he replied: “Are you Longfellow?” “I am.” She then stated: “I thought you died two years ago.”

As was the premature assumption of Longfellow's death, many beliefs about old age are mythical. This is certainly the case concerning depression in the elderly. This article focuses on five such myths. The myths are that, in comparison with depression at younger ages, depression in late life is

1	Symptomatically different
2	More common
3	More chronic
4	More difficult to treat
5	More often caused by psychological factors

El texto completo de este artículo está disponible en PDF.

Esquema

MYTH 1. DEPRESSION IN LATE LIFE IS SYMPTOMATICALLY DIFFERENT FROM DEPRESSION AT YOUNGER AGES

MYTH 2: DEPRESSION IS MORE COMMON IN LATE LIFE THAN AT YOUNGER AGES

MYTH 3: DEPRESSION IS MORE CHRONIC IN LATE LIFE THAN IN YOUNGER PERSONS

MYTH 4: DEPRESSION IN LATE LIFE IS MORE DIFFICULT TO TREAT THAN DEPRESSION AT YOUNGER AGES

MYTH 5: DEPRESSION IN LATE LIFE IS MORE OFTEN CAUSED BY PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

CONCLUSION

Address reprint requests to Dan G. Blazer, MD, PhD, Box 3005, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
This work was supported by NIA Contract NO1 AG 1 2102 (Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly/Duke).