How often have you heard someone talk about their mental health just as easily as physical well-being? It’s a topic, which is rarely spoken about in our living rooms, with ease. The stigma attached to it runs deep in our society. There have been awareness campaigns, several international days dedicated around different facets of mental health and yet the more things change the more they remain same.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 15 per cent of adults over the age of 60 suffer from some form of mental disorder. Geriatric mental health has still not received much attention in our country. The most common mental and neurological disorders for this age group are depression (7 per cent) and dementia (5 per cent). So there is a need to understand what causes it, what kind of help one should seek out and what can be done in such situations as family members.
Even though dementia affects mostly older people, it is not a normal part of ageing. The challenge for our country, which has the second largest global population at 1.3 billion, is to identify how our ageing population can get the best of healthcare facilities. Any talk around mental health illness should look into the how, why and what now of it. How does it occur, why is it prevalent and what can be done now should be the three key factors to understand mental disorders.
The mental health of a person is determined by several factors at any given point of time. It depends on social, psychological and biological factors. And the reasons that mental health disorders occur in elderly are manifold—from financial insecurities to loneliness, ample time in hand to mobility issues, lack of quality sleep and physical inactiveness. Emotional bereavement too has a strong impact on mental health. The increasing amount of medication for other diseases, retirement and subsequent loss of control over things (be it in an official position or in a family) leads to emotions that can choke up anyone easily. Do you see yourself talking much less now? That could be a sign.
Once the issues are understood a few important steps can be taken. Try talking about your feelings – be it to a friend or a family member. Seek out other people’s ears. Get a book of Sudoko if you don’t like meeting people. Solving puzzles keeps the mind sharp. If you have an elderly at home, make it a point to spend an hour of quality time listening to them – be it their daily activities or discussing about politics or even yesteryear movies. Understand their needs and figure out if there’s an emotional lacunae. Encourage them to meet their friends or go for a walk in a park. Try to keep them as busy as possible. Also what often goes unnoticed is how distressed a caregiver can get taking care of an elderly with dementia. Sometimes caregivers are blamed when an elderly develops significant psychological distress. This is due to lack of awareness because mental illness is not some behavioural issue to be brushed under the table. Mental illness, just like any other illness, needs professional help — counselling and medication