Depression in Elders After Moving to a Nursing Home
Abstract
In several countries, older adults are always taken to nursing homes or Helped living facilities. They are always taken to these places because their families are too busy to take care of them. While in nursing homes, the elderly may develop depression due to many factors such as physiological, psychological, and social factors. Physiological factors include specific conditions in nursing homes that inflict stress on the elderly. Physical conditions include chronic illnesses and exposure to long-term treatments. Psychological factors are conditions developed in the elders’ minds while in nursing homes and inflict stress and depression. They include how elders view their conditions and environments. Social causes of depression factors resulting in loneliness due to social isolation. This essay discusses the causes of depression in the elderly after being taken to nursing homes and Helped living facilities. Further, it discusses some of the ways of reducing depression in older adults in nursing homes.
Keywords: Depression, loneliness, psychological factors, social factors, and physiological factors.
Depression in Elders After Moving to a Nursing Home
A nursing home is a residential option for elders who need help with daily activities such as getting to the toilets and bathrooms at night, travelling to appointments, cooking meals, and keeping a house. A nursing facility is a good option for elders who need personal care services they cannot get independently or at home. Nursing homes are essential since the older adults are entitled to a whole day and night security and safety. Caregivers in nursing homes provide care and support to older adults both during the day and night. Nonetheless, independence and privacy are highly promoted in the Helped living facilities. The management of nursing home facilities always develops a personalized plan that accommodates the disabilities and meets the needs of the elderly while giving them the freedom of doing what they can themselves. However, the elderly may develop loneliness and depression while residing in nursing home facilities.
Psychological Causes of Depression to Elders Living in Nursing Home
Psychological problems are among the factors that affect people’s mental state. Every individual’s thought determines how they experience life, which in turn affects whether they become depressed or not. The way individuals view and think about their situations emerges from childhood. For instance, a severe and strict upbringing where criticism and comments predominate can shape how individuals view the environment and situation in most likely a negative way (Morley, 2010). Looking at the environment and situations from a different perspective strengthens the negative effect of challenging life conditions that predispose individuals to emotional suffering. Studies have suggested that depression is mainly linked with several stressors an individual experiences in life (Marcus et al., 2012). That is, the more stresses that accumulate over time, the higher the likelihood of becoming depressed. For elders in the nursing home, the leading cause of stress is the loss of meaningful relationships such as spouse and family. When the elders are taken to Helped living facilities, the ties between them and their families are disconnected, therefore inflicting stress. The elders do not frequently meet their family members because they only visit them in their free time. Disconnection from families and spouse causes psychological stress, which may result in depression.
Besides, learned helplessness in nursing homes also may result in depression. Learned helplessness is a condition of mind where individuals believe that they have no way of avoiding the painful or difficult situation and thus do not attempt to change the stressful situation even if it possible to do so. The consequential passivity keeps individuals from taking actions to help themselves when a problem arises or keep away from a problem (Morley, 2010). Individuals, therefore, compound their suffering and causing feelings of hopelessness which are the promoters of depression. In Helped living facilities, the elders are helped in carrying out almost all of their daily activities. They eventually develop the mentality that they cannot do anything on their own. Besides, the use of diapers in nursing homes inflicts a hopeless feeling on elders. They start thinking that they can do nothing to help their current situations. Therefore, they stop making efforts to try to correct their current conditions. Helplessness is a belief that elders in nursing homes develop when the caregivers do almost everything to them. Elders can unlearn the belief by developing plans to enable the elderly to perform specific duties by themselves. Therefore, the learned feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is a significant cause of stress in Helped living facilities resulting in depression.
Moreover, elders in nursing homes are sometimes subjected to different kinds of abuse, resulting in psychological stress. Abuse of elders is a repeated or single act or lack of proper action to address some of the elders’ needs in nursing homes. Elder abuse always develops from the caregivers entrusted to provide needed care to the elders in Helped living facilities. The abuse can cause distress or even harm the older person. Elder abuse is a violent type constituting the human right violation and comprises psychological, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Elder abuse also includes neglect by the caregivers, abandonment, and loss of dignity and respect. Some of the caregivers in nursing homes may sometimes provide insufficient care to elders depriving them of dignity. Sometimes, the elderly are left in soiled clothes for a long time, causing distress leading to depression. Therefore, elder abuse by caregivers may inflict stress on the elder, causing depression.
Physiological Factors Causing depression to the Elderly in Nursing Homes
Physiological factors may also cause depression in the elderly in nursing homes. Some of the physiological factors include chronic illnesses. Most of the elders in a nursing home are prone to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and other long-lasting illnesses. In many cases, chronic illness cannot be wholly cured, causing the caregivers to subject elders to log series of therapies and treatments. The therapy sessions are tiresome and boring to the elderly, causing stress and depression. Moreover, chronic diseases may cause an older person’s frequent movement from nursing homes to other places searching for treatments. Frequent and long-distance movement often causes stress to older adults leading to depression. Nonetheless, they can always control chronic diseases through exercise, diet, lifestyle habits. Chronic diseases in the elderly may cause a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, inflicting stress and depression.
Moreover, longtime exposure to medication may cause depression in older people in nursing homes. Due to disabilities and complications in individuals living in nursing homes, they are constantly subjected to frequent medication. Studies have discovered that certain drugs may lead to depression in some people. For instance, medications such as benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and the acne drug isotretinoin have been associated with depression in older adults (Resnick et al., 2011). Similarly, drugs such as opioids, anticholinergics, and corticosteroids that reduce stomach pains, are linked with fluctuations and changes in moods. Even medications cations for blood pressure have been associated with depression (Resnick et al., 2011). Frequent administration of drugs linked with depression to older adults may inflict stress leading to depression.
Besides, the method of drug administration to the elderly may also result in depression. A patient may be stressed when drugs are administered to them using a method they do not prefer. Some people prefer the use of needles to administer drugs, while others are afraid of needles. Therefore, using needles in patients and people who are afraid of them may result in depressions. Moreover, substance abuse may also lead to depression in older people. Many older people are used to certain habits such as smoking and alcohol drinking. The absence of these substances in nursing homes may result in depression. Studies have discovered that many individuals with substance abuse problems also have clinical or significant depressions (Sözeri-Varma, 2012). Even though drinking or smoking makes an individual temporarily feel better, they will eventually exacerbate depression. Similarly, some people are allergic or fear to smoke. Therefore, smoking close to these individuals may inflict stress and depression on them.
Social Changes that Cause Depression in Older Adults in Nursing Homes
Social changes can also result in depression in the elderly living in nursing homes. In most cases, the elderly in Helped living facilities are always separated from social contact. Social isolation is the infrequency of social contacts and lack of social relationships resulting in loneliness (Domènech-Abella et al., 2017). Humans are social beings. That is, they always live in groups. They also depend on each other for their daily survivals. In nursing homes and isolation centres, older adults are always separated from one another. In many cases, they always live in a separate room. The disabled elders always have social contact with the caregivers only when offering a specific service to them. Living in a secluded room where the elderly do not meet other people results in loneliness, which causes depression.
Moreover, the older individuals living in nursing homes are isolated from their loved ones, which increases loneliness cases. Many elders are often taken to nursing homes simply because their family members and close ones are too occupied with taking care of them (Marcus et al., 2012). They are therefore separated from their spouse and children whom they love. In some cases, the children and spouse do not create time to visit the older adult in a nursing home. Loss of emotional and physical contact by the elderly with the loved ones creates rejection and loneliness. The elders will feel they are not crucial to their family start wishing for a quicker death. Physical and emotional detachment from loved ones causes depression in the elders, leading to early death.
Besides, lack of proper communications between the elders and caregivers in the nursing homes may result in depression. The caregivers in the Helped living facilities may sometimes develop a lousy attitude towards the elders disrupting proper communication between them. When a bad attitude is developed, the caregivers will always speak to the elderly rudely and arrogantly. The elders will then feel they are not loved and respected in the nursing home, increasing instances of depression.
However, depression due to social change and isolation can be minimized by involving the elders in social activities. The elders my be given some time to interact with one another in the facility. When they interact, they share ideas and opinions, reducing instances of loneliness and depression. Besides, participation in social activities within the facility will help reduce related social stress (Taylor, 2014). The management can develop a program where the elders read a novel together, enhancing their interaction. Similarly, the caregivers can improve on how they communicate with the elders in the facility. They can offer their services with a lot of respect to the elder, showing acceptance and much love in the facility. Proper communication between caregivers and elders enhances their relationship, therefore reducing instances of depression.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, elderly depression in nursing homes and Helped living facilities has been a dominant problem. Depression in these places is caused by either physiological, psychological, and social factors that inflict stress on the elder. Psychological factors involve how the elders view their environment and how they respond to their difficult situations. Social factors include social isolation, which results in loneliness. Finally, physiological factors are physical aspects that may inflict stress on elders, such as frequent treatment and inferior drug administration methods. However, engaging in social activities can help minimize depression in nursing homes.
References
Domènech-Abella, J., Lara, E., Rubio-Valera, M., Olaya, B., Moneta, M. V., Rico-Uribe, L. A., … & Haro, J. M. (2017). Loneliness and depression in the elderly: the role of the social network. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 52(4), 381-390.
Marcus, M., Yasamy, M. T., van Ommeren, M. V., Chisholm, D., & Saxena, S. (2012). Depression: A global public health concern.
Morley, J. E. (2010). Depression in nursing home residents. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 11(5), 301-303.
Resnick, B., Galik, E., Gruber‐Baldini, A., & Zimmerman, S. (2011). Testing the effect of function‐focused care in Helped living. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(12), 2233-2240.
Sözeri-Varma, G. (2012). Depression in the elderly: clinical features and risk factors. Ageing and Disease, 3(6), 465.
Taylor, W. D. (2014). Depression in the elderly. New England journal of medicine, 371(13), 1228-1236.
