More than just a sour mood
SOME people complain constantly. Their food is too salty. It’s too cold (or too hot) to go for a walk. The kids playing next door are too noisy. And all of the shows on television are crap.
Sometimes it seems that the grumps are mostly elderly. Is this really so? One person who should know is sceptical about this general belief.
”People are generally more content in old age than in other phases of their life,” according to Dr Frieder R. Lang, director of the Institute of Psychogerontology (IPG) at the University of Erlangennuremberg in Germany. However, some older people do “stand out in their dissatisfaction”, he says.
There are various reasons for this. Sometimes it’s simply a kind of outward modesty, “a matter of not wanting to let on how well they’re doing”, Lang says, Others are crabby and worried their whole life.
Although this trait may have always been present, it often becomes clearer to the person’s partner when the grouch retires and spends more time at home. This is especially true during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Many older couples in particular are now together even more than usual, and at the same time have heightened fears and hardships.
Optimists often feel compelled to prod grumps into shedding their ill temper. “Don’t worry! Things aren’t so bad,” they might say, but their well-meant solicitude seldom has any effect, Lang says.
”People who are inclined to look at the dark side don’t want to hear that.”
Family members who struggle with this can describe the disquiet best, Lang says, but they should realise that “as long as the person and the people around him or her aren’t under great psychological stress, there’s no need to change anything”.
Recognising psychological stress isn’t easy for a non-expert. ”particularly in cases involving older people, the symptoms are often either over- or underestimated,” says Dr Eva-marie Kessler, a professor of gerontopsychology at MSB Medical School Berlin.
Not every elderly person despairs after traumatic or stressful events, she says. On the other hand, chronic cheerlessless, withdrawal from friends or insomnia shouldn’t be taken lightly. A senior who becomes increasingly uncommunicative and expressionless, no longer answers the phone and avoids eye contact could be suffering from depression.
The disorder often goes undiagnosed because “its symptoms are frequently seen as a normal part of growing older,” notes Dr Frank Jessen, who heads the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Cologne University Hospital in Germany. But he says there are clues that family members should look for.
”Signs of old age develop gradually over years. In the case of depression, massive mood changes occur in the space of several weeks,” explains Jessen, describing geriatric depression as “a serious and sometimes life-threatening disorder” that should be treated.
The person affected should first see a general practitioner. “A medical evaluation is especially important when depression occurs for the first time in an older person,” says Kessler, pointing out that the symptoms could also be early signs of dementia or the accompanying effects of a physical illness.
If clinical depression is diagnosed, the doctor will consider prescribing an antidepressant to treat it, but all too rarely psychotherapy, according to Kessler.
”This is due in part to the image of older people: Many doctors believe they’ll no longer benefit from therapy and have no interest in therapy any more,” even though psychotherapy’s effectiveness at all ages is scientifically proven, she says.