Depression is not a normal part of aging. However, the symptoms of depression have often been associated with aging for several reasons:

• The symptoms for depression in the aging are often different than from the rest of the population.
• Depression can imitate dementia, suggesting to the sufferer and their family that their symptoms are caused by old age.
• The elderly often have other major health problems, leading the sufferer and their doctors to believe that their symptoms are caused by their other illnesses or conditions.
• The elderly often lose their loved ones and the symptoms of depression are explained away as part of the grief process.

Why don’t the elderly seek treatment for their depression?

It is estimated that while 12 to 20% of the elderly suffer from depression, only 1 to 2% of these individuals ever seek treatment. Why does this happen?

• The elderly are often more concerned about society’s reaction to their depression.
• The elderly are often afraid of becoming a burden to their loved ones and so they don’t tell anyone they are suffering.
• The sense of worthlessness that accompanies depression makes them feel as if they don’t deserve help.
• The elderly don’t understand depression any better than the rest of society does.

How does depression present itself in the elderly?

Look for a combination of these symptoms, lasting for a period of two weeks or more:

• Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness
• Thoughts of suicide. (Listen for statements such as, “I wish God would just come and get me. I wish I just wouldn’t wake up in the morning.”
• Tearfulness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that formerly appealed to them.
• Significant weight loss or weight gain
• Marked change in sleep patterns (not able to sleep or sleeping too much)
• Extreme agitation
• Observable slowness of thought
• Feeling tired or having a loss of energy nearly every day
• Inappropriate guilt nearly every day
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate
• Indecisiveness nearly every day
• Symptoms that can’t be reasonably explained by bereavement (symptoms more than 2 months)
• Feelings of being isolated from everyone (“No one loves me anymore.”)
• Persistent headaches, stomach aches, or chronic pain
• Withdrawing from family and friends

Why should the elderly seek treatment for their depression?

It is important that the elderly receive treatment for depression because a study, performed by scientists at the National institute on Aging, reported that the prevention and treatment of depression could extend the lives of the elderly, as well as increase their level of life satisfaction. The study also showed that individuals who were very depressed were more likely to have a significant loss of physical ability and that newly depressed men were twice as likely to suffer a cardiovascular event or death than men who had not been depressed. Surprisingly, another study (University of Michigan) showed that having depression increases a person’s risk for disease as high as if they smoked.

What treatments for depression are effective for the elderly?

The good news is that the elderly can be treated for depression as effectively as any other age group. Here are some of the treatments that can help:

• Therapy is valuable, as the sufferer’s doctor can help the person understand their feelings, as well as teach them to change their negative thought patterns.

• Medication is important, as depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and it is important that this imbalance be corrected so that the person can recover.

• Social interaction is very important. A study by the Australian government showed that people who live alone are more likely to suffer from depression. Although it’s hard to interact with other people when depressed, this interaction can help lesson the symptoms.

• Reminiscing about the past. An article by ElderCare Online Innovations Inc. states that “reminiscing has strong therapeutic potential for people of all ages, and especially for elderly people… By reminiscing, people can resolve old conflicts, disappointments and guilts, and also strengthen their selfesteem and celebrate the good in their lives.”

*name changed

• A sudden drop in school performance
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability, or crying
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Expression of fear or anxiety
• Aggression, refusal to cooperate, antisocial behavior
• Use of alcohol or other drugs
• Constant complaints of aching arms, legs, or stomach with no apparent cause

Dr. David Satcher, the surgeon general of the United States released a report entitled, “Agenda for Children’s Mental Health.” The report states that while one in ten children suffer from some sort of mental illness, only 20% receive treatment. This failure to obtain treatment is due to a lack of  awareness about depression. If parents, educators, health care workers, clergy and others who work with children aren’t aware of mental illness issues – such as depression –  they don’t consider them when dealing with a troubled child.

Additionally, the stigma that still exists in our society about people who have mental illness may prevent a parent from seeking help for their child. They don’t want people to think their child is not okay. This report also points out that even if a parent is willing to obtain help for their child’d depression, they often find it impossible to obtain help. In fact, some parents have had to give up custody for their child to a state agency in order to obtain needed in-patient care.

Dr Satcher stated, “Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral and developmental needs are not being met by the institutions and systems that were created to take care of them.”

In commenting about this issue, the editors of the Deseret News (January 6, 2000) stated, “One point is abundantly clear, society will pay for the lack of treatment one way or another. It makes sense from a public policy standpoint to attempt to address small problems early on before they mushroom into large, expensive ordeals.”

If you feel that your child might have depression, please speak to a doctor right away!

I received a phone call from a dear friend recently. During the course of our conversation she revealed to me that she had been diagnosed with bipolar depression five years ago. The conversation went something like this:

Rozanne: “I’m so surprised. I really had no idea.”

Friend: “No one knows. I think I’ve only told about five people so far.”

Rozanne: “Only five people know that you’ve got bipolar depression?”

Friend: “Yes. It even took me a long time to tell my therapist.”

Rozanne: “Why?”

Friend: “I was too ashamed. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was crazy. When my therapist finally found out about it, she got after me. She told me that I had a physical disorder and that it didn’t have anything to do with my testimony or my intellect or with anything that I’d ever done. She told me that I had a disability.”

Rozanne: “That’s right. Serious depression is considered a disability.”

Friend: “I didn’t know that. In fact, I almost lost my job because of my depression. My psychiatrist had been working with me, trying to get my medications balanced. Over the last six months the medications have made it increasingly difficult to think, affecting my cognitive thought processes. It took twice as much effort to do half as much work. Finally, my boss counseled me and told me that if things didn’t change I’d lose my job.”

Rozanne: “Oh, no! What did you do?”

Friend: “I called the ADA (American Disabilities Act) Hotline. They told me about the Family Leave Act, which allows me to take up to twelve weeks off of my job. I found out that when I return to work, I’m guaranteed the same position at the same wage. I’m using it to get medications right and to figure out what I want to do next. I also realized that I had some short-term disability insurance, which provides me some income during this time. When I told my boss about it, he was shocked. He said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me this a year ago? We could have helped you!’ I told him that I was too afraid that he’d think he had an unstable person on his staff. I didn’t think he would understand, but I was wrong.”

Unfortunately, my friend’s experience is not unusual. Most people today that suffer from serious forms of depression are too ashamed to let people around them know what they are facing. The old myths about depression are out there, alive and well…

If you are dealing a serious form of depression, it would be well worth your time to find out if you can get time off to heal via the provisions found in the ADA – American Disabilities Act.

I always loved the music of Robert Schumann. His melodies and sense of fun appealed to me as a piano student. Schumann enjoyed painting pictures with his music and some of his intermediate piano works with names such as, “The Strange Man,” “Knight Rupert,” and “Hunting Song,” sing of 19th century European life situations that my youthful heart longed to see. I could imagine myself there simply by hearing the sound of his music played by my young hands.

When I was studying music history in college, I learned that Schumann had a very sad life. He struggled with mental illness and died in altogether unhappy circumstances. I remember thinking, “Why does it seem that so many creative people struggle with mental illnesses and depression? Am I just imagining that there is a correlation between the two things?”

Apparently, I am not the only one who has asked that question. An article published by Time Magazine  (Amy Dickenson April 16, 2001) discussed a study that was performed by psychologist Kay Jamison at Oxford and London’s St. George’s Hospital. Ms. Jamison wondered if it could be proven that a higher percentage of creative people suffered from emotional disturbances such as depression. Kay studied forty-seven prominent British artists and creative writers who were all winners of major awards or were members of the Royal Academy of Arts.

It was discovered that 38% of the subjects had experienced mood disorders like depression, which is a rate much higher than the general population. One thing that seemed surprising to Jamison is that of the writers that had suffered with mental illnesses, most of these were poets. Jamison said that this makes sense “because the language of poetry is more akin to primitive thought processes and psychosis and because the nature of sustained work is probably different in the two kinds of writing.”

Jamison has stated that a person doesn’t have to be inflicted with a mood disorder (like depression) to be creative. In fact she has said, “A majority of creative people are not manic depressive. On the the other hand, a mood disorder can be exploited by artists to justify outrageous behavior. People like Byron used it to get away with all sorts of activity that wasn’t acceptable for someone who is normal.”

Most of the “‘normal” people in her study reported creative highs that are similar to the highs of manic-depression. During these “high” periods, forty-two of the forty-seven artists reported having periods, lasting about two weeks ” in which they were enthusiastic and had bursts of energy and and increased abilities to be creative. In fact, Jamison reports that some artists are reluctant to get help for their emotional disturbances because, “severe emotional swings are simply the price to be paid for being creative.”

So for many people, while the pain of the illness is not to be undervalued, they feel that the creativity that accompanies their mental illness is nature trying to make up for the pain being experienced by allowing the sufferer an increased ability to express what they are feeling.

Here is a partial list of creative geniuses who have suffered from depression. What do you think?

• President Abraham Lincoln
• Dick Cavett
• Mike Wallace
• Rodney Dangerfield
• Sylvia Plath
• Winston Churchhill
• Georgia O’Keefe
• Rod Steiger
• William Styron
• Virginia Woolf
• Ernest Hemingway
• Mark Twain
• Tipper Gore
• Patty Duke
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Robert Schumann
• Ludwig von Beethoven
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Vincent van Gogh
• Margot Kidder
• Paula Cale (Joanie Hansen on CBS’s Providence)
• Carly Simon
• Amanda Lewis (MTV veejay)
• Marie Osmond
• George Friderick Handel
• Hector Berlioz
• Robert Schumann,
• Dante Gabriel Rosetti
• Eugene O’Neill
• Honore de Balzac
• John Ruskin
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Charles Lamb
• Byron Shelleu
• Hart Crane
• Theodore Roethke
• Delmore Schwartz
• John Berryman
• Robert Lowell
• Anne Sexton
• Slyvia Path
• William Cowper
• Thomas Chatterton
• Amy Tan
• Derrick Adkins
• Rosie O’Donnell
• Rosemary Clooney
• Margaret Cho
• Ricky Williams (New Orleans Saints running back)
• Nikki Teasley (North Carolina basketball player)
• Wendy Williams (won a bronze medal in diving in the 1988 Olympics)
• Kirk Douglas
• Kitty Dukakis

• Breath in through your nose for a count of four.
• Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Breath out through your mouth for a count of eight.

Because you are taking twice as long to breath out and you are to breath in, your body automatically will begin to relax. It doesn’t even take very many repetitions of this stress management technique for your body to begin calming down. I have even had great success using this technique to help me deal with pain at the doctor’s or dentist’s offices.

Hope this simple stress management technique proves helpful to you!

Those of us who have experienced depression are well acquainted with the “mighty winds the devil shall send forth.” When we are depressed, the forces of evil seem to gather around us, creating additional chaos in both our mind and our lives. The mighty storm rages and because of our weakened mental state life events (that during better times wouldn’t faze us) send us into a tailspin.

How do these mighty winds appear in our lives?

• Our thoughts. Satan loves to add to our depressive state by feeding us thoughts such as “I can’t take it anymore,” “I’m no good,” or “I’ll never be happy again.”

• Stress. When we are depressed, we seem less able to handle stressful life events. It is no accident that sometimes, everything seems to pile on us, particularly if we are prone to suffer from this illness.

• People. Often, when we are depressed, the innocent (and yes, sometimes not so innocent) comments of people can cause us additional pain. We are less able to throw off what is said to us.

The good news is that this scripture offers us a promise. We are promised that if we build our foundation on Christ, these blasts of hot, fiery air cannot drag us “down to the gulf of misery and endless wo.” What hope this offers those who are ill! While we may suffer exceedingly, if we trust in Christ and believe Him, we will not be left to agonize forever.

How then, do we build our lives on Christ? The answers are so simple that we often cannot (or will not) believe them. “Give me some hard task, Lord,” we cry. “Tell me to sell all of my belongings. Tell me to give up sugar. Tell me to write a magnificent symphony that will make the inhabitants of the earth weep with joy when they hear it. Give me something that I really can’t do, because then I will be free to blame you for my problems.”

The Lord, in his mercy, merely smiles and then speaks to us gently through his servants. He tells us that his way is understandable. The path is clearly marked.

The answers are always the same:

• Have faith in me. I love you and will help you.

• Pray. Pray even when you think I don’t hear you. I do hear you and I need you to keep praying so that I can help you.

• Study and ponder the scriptures. The iron rod of the word of God will keep you steady.

• Keep the commandments. Do your best. Repent when you fail. Get up and try again.

• Follow the prophets. The words of my modern day prophets will show you that I still am here and that I am concerned about my children.

• Love and serve each other. The best way to find me is to “lose” yourself in the service of your fellow mankind. Keep it simple. Do what you can. Even if all you can manage on a rough day is a breath of a prayer for someone else or a small smile directed towards another person, your service will benefit both those served and yourself.

• Believe in Christ: He is there. Believe Christ: He will do what he has promised us.

• Believe him, just believe him and somehow, you will make it because he will never fail you.

In her wonderful book, Art and Healing: Using Expressive Art to Heal Your Body, Mind, and Spirit, Barbara Ganim states, “There is a growing movement nationwide among contemporary artists and non-artists to use art to heal the body, soothe the mind,and transform the spirit.

Throughout the ages, artists have intuitively known what others are just beginning to discover; creating a visual image on paper  through any art medium produces physical and emotional benefits for both the creator and the viewer. Psychotherapists, medical caregivers, and educators have rediscovered art as a way to heal emotional wounds created by our internal feelings of fragmentation, as well as by our sense of separation from others.

Medical science has revealed that as we heal our emotional wounds, we also heal the wounds of the body. As a result, art is successfully used to reduce the physiological stress that causes immune system dysfunction by enabling patients to connect with negative, painful, or fearful emotions that are known to trigger that stress.

“But I’m not an artist,” you are probably saying right now. “I can’t even draw stick-figures.”

That’s the wonder of this method of coping. You don’t have to be an artist for the technique to be very effective. Any image you produce can be very healing. The image might not mean anything to anyone else, but it will be meaningful to you.

This significance can be understood by learning about split-brain research, which according to Ms. Ganim, “focuses on the functional difference between the right and left sides of the brain.” Researchers have learned that the right side of the brain processes all of our experiences and emotions as images first. The left side of the brain then takes these images and translates them into language. Our bodies respond to images before they respond to words. This pattern of response would explain why our dreams, which are mostly images, often cause such powerful physical reactions.

Ms. Ganim’s technique to access the images that will help us process our emotions involves visualizations. In her book, she teaches various types of visualizations with steps similar to this:

• Close your eyes and take three deep breaths.
• Become aware of your body and how it feels as you breathe.
• Become aware of how your body feels in its surroundings.
• Continue breathing.
• Imagine that there is a little beam of light in the center of your head. This light can illuminate whatever part of the body it moves into.
• Now focus on an emotion that you are experiencing. How does it feel and what part of your body feels it? Imagine that you are moving the light to this part of your body.
• Imagine what the emotion would look like if it you could see it. What shape would it take? What color(s) would it be? What texture would it have?
• Once you know what it looks like, open your eyes and begin to draw the image(s) that have appeared in your head. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Just draw.
• Once you have completed your drawing, put it somewhere where you can view it from a distance.
• Study your drawing until you know what it means to you. The interpretation is personal and no one can give it to you (including your therapist).
• Write your impressions down.

There are many more techniques for dealing with your emotional wounds in Ms. Ganim’s book, including techniques for changing negative images into something that produces a positive, healing effect.

When I first read Art and Healing, I was experiencing severe stomach pains. I was also having difficulty deciding what to do about a situation in my life. I couldn’t seem to move ahead. I felt stuck and was aware that I needed to do something, but had no idea what that might be. I became frustrated with myself and began to feel depressed.

Then I found Art and Healing in my local library. I decided to try Barbara’s suggestions, as I was feeling quite desperate for a solution.

After I made my first drawing, I instantly knew what it meant. The object the figure is holding is fear. The stomach pains were the physical manifestations of this fear. I suddenly heard myself say, “Why don’t you stand up and drop that thing? Walk away from it and get on with your life.”

I was shocked at how mad I was at myself for allowing this fear to control me. My drawing showed me that not only had I been holding on to the fear, I was grasping onto it very tightly.

Almost immediately, my stomach pains went away. I began moving forward with my plans. I didn’t feel overwhelmed. To this day, I can’t quite get over how dramatically my drawing changed my life.

There are many useful techniques for dealing with our emotional wounds. Pick something and start trying. You don’t have to be like Scralett O’Hara any more.

As with any technique provided on this blog, if you find yourself unable to deal with what you learn about yourself on your own, please seek appropriate medical or psychological help.

Feeling stressed? Here are a few tips that may help lower your stress-temperature.

1. Exercise. Exercise releases endorphins that make us feel good. Leave the building you are in and take a short (10-15 minute) walk around the block. You might be surprised at what an effective stress management technique you have discovered. If you add some rhythmic breathing (breathe in and count to four; breathe out and count to four) while you are walking, you will increase the benefits.

2. Breathing techniques. Here’s a good one: Breathe in for a count of four, hold for seven counts, and then breath out for eight counts. This method is a well-known relaxation technique and is a very effective stress management technique. It also works when you are dealing with pain. Try it!

3. Laugh. Search online for funny jokes.

4. Eat something healthy. Often, stressed feelings are caused by poor eating habits. When you are feeling tired and anxious, don’t reach for something loaded with sugar and caffeine because you’ll experience a rebound crash an hour or two after you’ve eaten it. You’ll end up feeling worse than you did. Instead, eat some protein with some complex carbohydrates or dairy.

5. Pray. Research has shown that people who pray and have a relationship with God handle stress better.

6. Take a mental vacation. Find a place where you can be alone for about 10 minutes and imagine that you are in a place where you feel relaxed. I like to imagine that I’m sitting on a beautiful beach. Then I imagine that I hear the sound of waves hitting the beach as the surf comes in and out. I feel the breeze blowing through my hair. I feel the comfortable warmth on my skin. I hear the sounds of birds in the tress. I feel the sand on my feet and legs. Just writing this has transported me and the stressed feelings I had are melting away.

7. Pet a small animal. Research has found that stroking an animal is a very soothing stress management technique. There are now programs that allow volunteers to take their trained pets into hospitals and convalescent homes.

8. Make time for fun. Play a game or watch a funny movie.

9. Do one thing at a time. Do you try to talk on the phone while answering email and eating lunch? Bad idea. Contrary to what some people think, multi-tasking isn’t good for you. Not only are you less able to focus on the task at hand when you multi-task, your stress level will rise over time. Allow yourself the luxury of accomplishing something – one item at a time – and avoid this particular brand of stress altogether.

10. Do something for someone else. A simple, but underused, form of stress management is serving others. So go ahead… get out of your own head and look around for something you can do to help someone else. You don’t have to do something big. Even small acts of kindness – such as giving someone a compliment or thank you – can help minimize the effects of stress.

11. Be a human. That’s what you are, you know. Dump the Superwoman or Superman cape you’ve draped over your shoulders. The pressure you are unnecessarily putting on yourself to become perfect could be the single most important thing you do as you increase your stress management skills.

12. Forgive. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Dump the heavy load of anger-bricks you’ve been carrying around in your stress-backpack. You’ll feel better, I promise. If you are feeling stuck, try this technique I learned from Louise Hayes: Look at yourself in a mirror. Talk to yourself as if you are speaking to the person you are angry at. Tell them how you feel, describing how their actions hurt you. Talk and talk and talk until you feel better. You’ll probably find that a point will come that you realize it isn’t worth it to you to hold onto the anger. Tell them that you forgive them, and – if necessary – tell them that you are releasing them from your life. Wish them well as they continue their journey. Then pat yourself on the back for taking such a big step in your stress management journey.

13. Talk to someone about your feelings. If there isn’t anybody in your immediate circle that feels safe to talk to, there are many online communities with helpful and supportive members who understand your feelings. As you search for such a community, watch them a little bit before you join in to make sure the discussions move in positive, helpful directions. Get the lay of the land, so to speak, so that once you make your first post, you’ll have confidence that you are approaching them in a manner that indicates you are sincere in joining their community.

14. Throw your stress out with the garbage. Write down everything that is stressing you. Tear the paper up into tiny pieces and throw it away.

15. Look at the sources of your stress and decide if are able to do something about them. If you can take action, begin today. If you discover that someone else really owns the stress item, release it, and mentally give it back to whomever owns it. Make a statement to yourself such as, “I used to feel that _____ was making me feel stressed. I now give it back to _____, because they own it.”

Photo by Moriza.