Mental Health Issues and Aging: Impacts, Interventions, and Social Services

This presentation discusses the impacts of mental health issues on aging, including depression, anxiety, dementia, and suicidal ideations. It explores interventions like alternative medicine, psychological testing, and medications, and social services like Anishnawbe Health Toronto, Baycrest, and Cota. The importance of understanding the effects of mental illnesses on separate patients and the already existing community systems is highlighted.

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• The contemporary society is showing a gradual increase in the
prevalence of mental health issues among the older population with
every passing day.
• The aging process is most often frustrating due to several physical
and psychological reasons.
• Mental health can be defined as the condition of psychological
wellbeing, besides the absence of certain mental illnesses where the
affected person is not able to achieve a satisfactory level of
behaviour, emotion, and adjustment (Wyatt & Oswalt, 2013).
• Due to the aging phenomenon, adult individuals are typically not
strong mentally and physically.
• They also fail to demonstrate independence as before.
• Aged people are vulnerable to illness and poor quality of life.
Impacts
Social Service
agencies
Mental health issues and
aging
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References
• While some persons suffering from mental disorders report major
health difficulties, "late" recovery is plausible (Slade et al., 2014).
• Aged people suffering from mental disorders demonstrate a more
susceptibility for lessened quality of life, poverty, vulnerability to
abuse, dropped productivity, social problems, and increased health
abnormalities (Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2014).
• Psychological disorders have been reported to create a negative effect
on the community, peers, and family members of the people who are
mentally hostile.
• This calls for the need to develop a deeper understanding the effects
of mental illnesses on separate patients and the already existing
community systems (Clement et al., 2015).
• Women exhibit greater favourable intentions for seeking assistance
from different mental health professionals, in comparison to men. This
can be accounted to their positive beliefs and attitudes that are
related to their psychological openness (Mackenzie et al., 2006).
• There exists a direct association between functional disability,
physical illness, and suicidal ideations in older adults (Fässberg et al.,
2016).
• Aged adults who commit suicide are found to consult physicians, few
weeks prior to their death, where they mainly talk about their physical
illnesses and do not disclose their mental distress and suicidal feelings
(Innamorati et al., 2014).
Canadian mental health association. (2017). NATIONAL Annual Report 2016/2017. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas/profiles/can_mh_profile.pdf?ua=1&ua=1.
Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., ... & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma
on help- seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological medicine, 45(1), 11-27.
Fässberg, M. M., Cheung, G., Canetto, S. S., Erlangsen, A., Lapierre, S., Lindner, R., ... & Duberstein, P. (2016). A systematic review of physical illness, functional
disability, and suicidal behaviour among older adults. Aging & mental health, 20(2), 166-194.
Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I., Kim, H. J., Shiu, C., Goldsen, J., & Emlet, C. A. (2014). Successful aging among LGBT older adults: Physical and mental health-related quality of
life by age group. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 154-168.
Innamorati, M., Pompili, M., Di Vittorio, C., Baratta, S., Masotti, V., Badaracco, A., ... & Amore, M. (2014). Suicide in the old elderly: results from one Italian county. The
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(11), 1158-1167.
Lamar, M., Charlton, R. A., Ajilore, O., Zhang, A., Yang, S., Barrick, T. R., ... & Kumar, A. (2013). Prefrontal vulnerabilities and whole brain connectivity in aging and
depression. Neuropsychologia, 51(8), 1463-1470.
Libby, D. J., Pilver, C. E., & Desai, R. (2013). Complementary and alternative medicine use among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Trauma:
Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(3), 277.
Mackenzie, C. S., Gekoski, W. L., & Knox, V. J. (2006). Age, gender, and the underutilization of mental health services: the influence of help-seeking attitudes. Aging and
mental health, 10(6), 574-582.
Pearson, C., Janz, T., & Ali, J. (2013). Mental and substance use disorders in Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O'Hagan, M., Panther, G., ... & Whitley, R. (2014). Uses and abuses of recovery: implementing recovery‐oriented
practices in mental health systems. World Psychiatry, 13(1), 12-20.
Spinazzola, J., Hodgdon, H., Liang, L. J., Ford, J. D., Layne, C. M., Pynoos, R., ... & Kisiel, C. (2014). Unseen wounds: The contribution of psychological maltreatment to
child and adolescent mental health and risk outcomes. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6(S1), S18.
Torontocentralhealthline.ca. (2018). Community Mental Health Programs - Toronto Central. Retrieved from
http://www.torontocentralhealthline.ca/listServices.aspx?id=10237.
World health organization. (2011). Mental Health Atlas 2011- Canada. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas/profiles/can_mh_profile.pdf?
ua=1&ua=1.
Wyatt, T., & Oswalt, S. B. (2013). Comparing mental health issues among undergraduate and graduate students. American journal of health education, 44(2), 96-107.
1. Alternative medicine that focuses on aging and mental health- These
refer to medicines of different types that are administered based on
the perspective and opinion of the users. Some common alternative
medicines are herbal remedies, exercise, energy healing,
acupuncture, massage therapy, spiritual healing, meditation, vitamin
therapy, yoga, and dietary advice (Libby, Pilver & Desai, 2013).
2. Psychological testing- Psychological assessment refers to the
exploration of a range of personality characteristics, traits and
human abilities. The tests are used for determination of the
intelligence, and cognitive capabilities of the person. Best available
interventions in this regard are the Weschler test, Stanford-Binet test,
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and Rorschach
Ink Blot test (Spinazzola et al., 2014).
3. Medications- The medications were first introduced in 1950s with the
administration of the drug chlorpromazine. Psychotherapeutic
medications are found effective in treating people suffering from a
plethora of mental illnesses, by relieving the symptoms and
improving the quality of life. The four major categories of
medications that are available are antimanic, antidepressant,
antipsychotic, and antianxiety medications.
• Anishnawbe Health Toronto: Aboriginal Mental Health and Addiction
Services- The AMHA Program encompasses 20-week days and is
founded on a model of western and traditional healing approaches. It
places Aboriginal tradition and culture at the core, while adopting a
strengths-based and patient-centered approach for recovery of the
users. It assists people on their recovery journey by facilitating the
reconstruction of their identity as Aboriginals and learning about their
traditions and culture.
• Baycrest: Geriatric Mental Health Community Support Services-
Delivers a comprehensive and exhaustive interdisciplinary
assessment, care, and consultation for aged adults who experience
mental health disorders at their home or outpatient settings.
• Cota: Geriatric Mental Health Case Management Program- It delivers
individualized support to all patients suffering from age related
dementia, and aged above 65 years, who are suffering from serious
mental disorders. The services are committed to being responsive
and flexible to the discrete desires and needs of the patients
(Torontocentralhealthline.ca, 2018).
Social Issue Interventio
ns
Importance
• With the process of aging, the mobility of the individual often slows
down and diminishes.
• These changes directly alters their mental health.
• One of the major impacts is depression. The condition is related to
lack of persistent feelings of happiness (Lamar et al., 2013).
• It prevents the affected people from enjoying their life, thus taking a
toll on their physical and psychosocial health.
• Anxiety, dementia, and suicidal ideations are also common in the
aged population.
• Mental illnesses found among adults are more likely to affect almost
all families in Canada, and the entire world (Pearson, Janz & Ali,
2013).
• The social issue leads to a disruption in the behavioural pattern of
the affected person and bring about a momentous distress and
impairment in the individual’s personal functioning.
• Some of the most common mental illnesses are bipolar disorder,
depression, anxiety and panic disorder, and schizophrenia.
Source- (CMHA, 2017)
Source- (WHO, 2011)