Senior Holiday Blues Could Be Depression

The holiday blues in the elderly can be part of a deeper illness that needs treatment, a U.S. expert on aging warns.

Loneliness is a difficult emotion for anyone. Recent research with older people has documented that loneliness is associated with major depression and with suicidal thoughts and impulses, Barry Lebowitz, deputy director of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego, said in statement.

Lebowitz defines holiday blues as feelings of profound sadness that can be provoked by all the holiday season activities.

In some people, the ‘holiday blues’ represent the exacerbation of an ongoing depressive illness, he said. Depression is a dangerous and life-threatening illness in older people. Tragically, suicide rates increase with age, specifically for older men. Depression is not a normal part of aging and should never be ignored or written off.

Experts on aging at the Stein Institute say signs of depression need not always be associated with sadness. They can include apathy, withdrawal, isolation, failure to thrive and agitation. Clues that older adults may be depressed include unexplained weight loss, headaches or other pain, fatigue, insomnia, or a higher than usual use of medical services.