Every year the definition of elderly changes, but maybe its fair to talk about the age of 65 as being the start of elderly. While this definition is somewhat arbitrary, it is many times associated with the age at which one can begin to receive pension benefits. At the moment, there is no United Nations standard numerical criterion, but the UN agreed cutoff is 60+ years to refer to the older population.
Elderly mental health care is an important issue that affects almost one in every five American adults who are in fact known to be affected by some form of mental illness or the other. These mental illnesses include suffering from dementia and psychosis, delirium as well as depression and schizophrenia.
Elderly mental health care today suffers from many lacunae and among these lacunae is the fact the majority of elders suffering from mental ailments shirk from getting them treated. It is commonly found that such elders will suffer their condition in silence and are ready to put up with many discomforts rather than face the stigma of being known as being mentally disturbed.
In today's day and age a worrying aspect to dealing with elderly health care needs is the fact that the cause of death in the twentieth century is radically different than what was common in the previous century. In the nineteenth century deaths were caused by acute as well as infectious ailments, though in these modern times the main killers are chronic as well as degenerative ailments of old age.
In most cases, mental health problems in elders that require treatment are quite conveniently ignored. Improper treatment of mental illnesses in elders seems to the most prominent reason contributing to high suicidal rate in these people. Many of these people require specialized mental health services.
There are several reasons that contribute to improper mental health services to the elderly :
1. In most cases, elders are reluctant to undergo treatment for their mental health disorder. They continue to harbor their minds with discomfort and stigmas, thereby showing resistance to leaving their homes and going to a rehabilitation center or a clinic.
2. Our society has never shown respect or dignity for individuals suffering from mental health problems. Even a mental health professional is apprehensive about an elderly person with such condition. Beliefs and attitudes of these professionals do have a significant influence on the quality of medical care provided to the patients.
3. Medical negligence is another big hurdle. In many situations, symptoms of mental health diseases are just written off as indicators of ageing.
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