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Depression Among Older Adults Essay

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There are various factors that have the potential to play a role in the development of depression among older individuals. Due to the physical changes taking place in their lives, the chances of a psychological disorder forming in their minds are possible. Studies on depression including older adults are becoming more common. Many may perceive an older adult’s life to be free from a variety of life’s common stressors, but not all problems disappear in the season of retirement. Digging deeper into the reasons why older adults are showing depression symptoms has led to research that extends into their personal living situations, as well as the level of care they are receiving. This matter needs to be addressed because of the major influx in birth rates between 1946 and 1962. This outsized group of people is known as the baby boomers, and though managing the aging population has always come with challenges, this cohort of people is pushing America’s limits of providing sufficiently for the elderly to a new level (Whitbourne …show more content…

McLaren stated that, rates of depression vary from 0.9 to 9.4% for those living at home (as cited in Djernes, 2006; Maercker et al., 2008; Preville et al., 2008), compared with 13–19% in low-level care facilities (as cited in Davison et al., 2007; Watson, Garrett, Sloane, Gruber-Baldini, & Zimmerman, 2003) and 14–42% in high-level care/nursing homes (as cited in Djernes, 2006). This collection of data shows a noticeable increase in depressive systems participants were experiencing due to their place of residence. The statistics are alarming and have raised many concerning questions that examine how where someone lives has the potential to cause such an obvious transformation in their levels of

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