Beat Depression to Stay Healthier and Live Longer
A Guide for Older Adults and Their Families
By (author) Gary S. Moak
Publication date:
15 November 2017Length of book:
332 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9780810895652
Clinical depression is a serious medical illness that not only can turn a happy retirement into a time of misery, but also leads to a wide range of health problems. Depression increases the rate of disease such as stroke, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease and worsens the course of others such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, and cancer. It also contributes to avoidable disability and premature death.
Beat Depression to Stay Healthier and Live Longer alerts readers to this untold story. It challenges beliefs that depression is normal in old age because old age is depressing, instead helping readers see that depression is a serious brain disease, often related to changes in the brain associated with the aging process. Gary S. Moak clearly and compassionately explains depression as a physically destructive state, in which a brain on overdrive runs the body ragged, accelerating age-related wear and tear. Depression is not a harmless condition older adults can live with, and Dr. Moak addresses the impact of depression on specific geriatric health problems. Case stories, taken from the author’s experience practicing geriatric psychiatry for thirty years, are used to illustrate the physically and mentally harmful effects of depression and the road to recovering well.
The book is a call to action. It encourages readers to seek treatment for depression, offering hope that older adults can get their lives back before it is too late. It provides practical guidance and advice for patients and family members about working with healthcare professionals to ensure that sufferers receive effective treatment for their depression and appropriate medical care for their physical needs. By shedding light on the impact of depression on physical health, Dr. Moak spotlights the importance of recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression and brings much needed attention to a subject that is so often overlooked.
Beat Depression to Stay Healthier and Live Longer alerts readers to this untold story. It challenges beliefs that depression is normal in old age because old age is depressing, instead helping readers see that depression is a serious brain disease, often related to changes in the brain associated with the aging process. Gary S. Moak clearly and compassionately explains depression as a physically destructive state, in which a brain on overdrive runs the body ragged, accelerating age-related wear and tear. Depression is not a harmless condition older adults can live with, and Dr. Moak addresses the impact of depression on specific geriatric health problems. Case stories, taken from the author’s experience practicing geriatric psychiatry for thirty years, are used to illustrate the physically and mentally harmful effects of depression and the road to recovering well.
The book is a call to action. It encourages readers to seek treatment for depression, offering hope that older adults can get their lives back before it is too late. It provides practical guidance and advice for patients and family members about working with healthcare professionals to ensure that sufferers receive effective treatment for their depression and appropriate medical care for their physical needs. By shedding light on the impact of depression on physical health, Dr. Moak spotlights the importance of recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression and brings much needed attention to a subject that is so often overlooked.
Just as smoking is hazardous to health, so is depression, especially in old age. As a past president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth, Moak certainly holds the right credentials to tackle the topic. He divides his footnoted guide into three sections. The first focuses on understanding depression in the elderly, the second covers its effect on health problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and the third describes what to do. (An example: people with manic depression should take mood stabilizers, not antidepressants.) Moak uses unnamed patients to illustrate conditions such as depression after stroke and reactions such as the all-too-common refusal to get help. Indeed, most older adults with depression don’t get treatment, which is a serious problem because the elderly, especially men over 85, have the highest rate of suicide of any group. He covers myths such as the erroneous belief that mental illness in old age must be senility . . . [T]his is a useful overview which presents a good case for getting treatment.