senior mental health

Dementia + Memory Loss

Are you over age 65 and experiencing mental health issues? With aging, you may experience “normal” changes in memory, sleep, energy level, and behavior. However, some symptoms are not “normal” and can cause seriously impair enjoyment of your senior years. If you or a loved one is experiencing changes in memory, sleep, appetite, mood, anxiety, energy level, or behavior it is important to consult with a physician. Important to note is that sometimes depression in the elderly can present as memory impairment. A psychiatrist can help you understand your senior mental health symptoms and help you with recommendations on healthy lifestyle, talk therapy, or medications.

Isn’t it normal to have memory problems as you age?

Not necessarily — Many people experience some kind of memory loss with aging, and to some degree. However, many people have memory loss which is more significant and impairs their ability to function independently. Some forms of memory loss can be associated with mood changes, behavioral changes, personality fluctuations and even bizarre symptoms like hallucinations (seeing or hearing things which are not real) and delusions (believing something which is not real).

There are many barriers to getting proper diagnosis and treatment for memory loss. Most people find the idea of losing their memory frightening and will avoid seeking help; they are afraid of being diagnosed with dementia and losing their independence.

Geriatric Psychiatry

Strictly defined, geriatric psychiatry is any treatment for people aged 65 or over. At Carolina Psychiatry, we think a more useful way to think about geriatric psychiatry is that aging can trigger mental health concerns that were not present in youth.

Reasons for development of mental health concerns later in life are as follows:

Difficulty Coping with Multiple Losses

As people age, their friends and family age too. Important relationships are lost when friends and family move, become ill, or die. Physical health changes and people can suffer loss of mobility, hearing, and vision. Some people may have coped well with losses when they were younger but now are having trouble adjusting to loss and find themselves depressed or anxious. Geriatric psychiatry can help treat these problems with psychotherapy and/or medications.

Poor Sleep

In normal aging, sleep patterns change. However, many people have significant impairment in falling asleep or staying asleep, and poor sleep leads to poor energy during the day. There are many possible causes of poor sleep in older adults. A psychiatrist can help identify the source of the sleep problem and, if necessary, select sleep medications which are safer in older adults.

Too Many Medications

These days, older adults tend to be taking multiple medications which can cause psychiatric problems like depression, anxiety, memory loss, or trouble concentrating. A majority of what geriatric psychiatrist may do, starts with the STOPPING OF MULTIPLE MEDICATIONS. For example, some medications may cause bizarre symptoms, like hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t real) and delusions (believing things which aren’t real). A psychiatrist can help review medications to avoid these problems, and sometimes a simple medication change will resolve a significant psychiatric symptom.