Millions of older adults find themselves battling depression at some point. It’s way more common in aging family members than anyone wants to believe. Here are some of the ways depression is dangerous for your senior and some ideas for helping her to counter those issues.
Muscle Tone Can Suffer
During episodes of depression, your senior isn’t likely to be all that active. While that’s not a great thing for anyone, it can be particularly problematic for your senior. She’s far more likely to lose muscle tone more readily, and that’s a big deal. For every bit of muscle tone that your senior loses, she becomes that much weaker. Helping her to get active again is crucial.
She Could Be Losing Bone Density
Again, lack of activity is likely to be creating other health problems for your senior. If she’s not moving much, she’s at greater risk of developing osteoporosis, which is weakening of her bones. Keeping her moving at least a little bit can help to forestall some of those problems.
Her Food Choices Might Not Be the Best
Very few people make healthy food choices when they’re depressed. If they’re eating at all, most depressed people are choosing comfort foods that are likely to be high in calories but low in substantial nutritive value. To help your senior to eat properly, it might be a good idea to enlist the help of elder care providers to do the cooking for her.
She Might Not Be Getting Quality Sleep
Depression really messes with your senior’s ability to sleep well. She may find that she’s spending a lot of time in bed and dozing, but the sleep she’s getting isn’t quality sleep that helps her to recover. If she can get more active, which is difficult when depressed, her sleep quality can go up. It’s a Catch-22 that really taxes her system.
Isolation Breeds More Depression
The big problem with depression is that it causes your senior to withdraw from you, from friends, and from other family members. That can lead to even more depression and more isolation. It all just feeds itself and gets worse. Having interactions with others more often, even when she doesn’t want to, can actually help a little bit.
Talk to your senior’s doctor about what might be causing her depression and what she can do to fight it. There are tools she can use, but she needs to be willing to put them to work.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring a Caregiver Buckeye, AZ, please contact the caring staff at Blessings for Seniors Companion Care at (623) 594-0819
Blessings for Seniors makes it possible for older adults to enjoy the comforts of their own home for as long as possible. We offer a customized care plan that includes services such as; Hourly Senior Home Care, 24-Hour Home Care, Dementia Care, Personal Care and Companion Care. Also ask us about our Veterans’ Home Care program.
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