{"id":128,"date":"2012-06-04T14:42:52","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T14:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/satisfyou.com\/jmd_client_sites\/flnav_wp\/?p=128"},"modified":"2020-10-03T01:37:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T01:37:49","slug":"mental-health-issues-for-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/2012\/06\/behavioral-mental-health\/mental-health-issues-for-older-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Issues for Older Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many older adults experience problems with gambling, misuse of prescription drugs, alcohol, anxiety, and depression. It is estimated that around 20% of older adults face mental health issues. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems faced older adults.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThere are many symptoms associated with depression. Some of the most common symptoms are:<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hopelessness<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sleep problems<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Social withdrawal<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eating more or less than usual<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Loss or interest in once pleasurable activities, including sex<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Frequent crying<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Difficulty focusing, remembering, or making decisions<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thoughts of death or suicide, or a suicide attempt<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nIf you have several of these symptoms for more than two weeks, you may have depression.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe abuse or misuse of drugs was once considered a problem only among the young. According to the American Geriatric Society, substance abuse has become a growing problem among older adults as well. Misuse of alcohol or other drugs is a common cause of physical and mental health problems among older adults, especially men.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nFour questions can provide a quick way to determine alcohol abuse:<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHave you ever felt you should slow down on your drinking?\u201d<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHave you ever felt annoyed at criticism about your drinking?\u201d<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHave you ever felt guilty or bad about drinking?\u201d<br \/>\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHave you ever felt the need for an \u201ceye opener\u201d in the morning to steady your nerves?\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nA \u201cyes\u201d answer to any two of these questions indicates that a problems is likely? A \u201cyes\u201d answer to even one of question indicates a possible problem that should be further evaluated.<br \/>\n(Source: AGS Foundation for Health in Aging)<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nAccording to the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling a growing percentage of Florida seniors are developing serious gambling problems. Symptoms of problem gambling among older adults include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Preoccupation with gambling<\/li>\n<li>Withdrawing from family, friends or regular activities because of gambling<\/li>\n<li>Neglecting personal needs or health due to gambling<\/li>\n<li>Gambling larger amounts of money to experience the thrill<\/li>\n<li>Betting more than planned<\/li>\n<li>Experiencing unaccounted blocks of time due to gambling<\/li>\n<li>Communicating a sudden need for money or loans<\/li>\n<li>Uncomfortable feelings or lying when questioned about gambling habits<\/li>\n<li>Gambling to calm nerves, forget worries or reduce depression<\/li>\n<li>Experiencing mood swings based upon winnings and losses<\/li>\n<li>Pawning or selling personal items<\/li>\n<li>Feeling restless or having anxiety when trying to cut down or stop gambling<\/li>\n<li>Using retirement funds or other savings to gamble<\/li>\n<li>Attempting to stop gambling but unable to do so<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Answering \u201cyes\u201d to one of more of these questions may indicate a gambling problem. For information or help contact the 24 hour FCCG helpline at 1-888-236-4848.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThere is no shame asking for help if you have one of these problems. Help is available through psychotherapy, consumer education, inpatient or outpatient management of symptoms, medication.<br \/>\nCall 211 for information on local programs to assist you in dealing with depression, anxiety, problem drinking, or problems related to gambling.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many older adults experience problems with gambling, misuse of prescription drugs, alcohol, anxiety, and depression. It is estimated that around 20% of older adults face mental health issues. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems faced older adults. &nbsp; There are many symptoms associated with depression. Some of the most common symptoms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[104,143,144],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavioral-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-issues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1959,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/1959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flnavigator.com\/healthfairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}