By Ruth Subrin, M.A., MFT-AT

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I work part time in a Geri-Psychiatric ward where my title is Recreational Therapist. What that means is that when elders are committed to this hospital ward, usually involuntarily, anywhere from 72 hours to one month they are termed “gravely disabled and in dire harm to themselves and/or others”. Along with individuals that are in a psychotic phase of their schizophrenia and those suffering from bipolar episodes, a large percentage of those admitted to our facility have dementia. When the dementia patients are admitted to the facility, they usually arrive in a stupor of confusion. The confusion is often exasperated because they have not been eating or have been unable to sleep for days. It is tragic to see elders who I imagine once had interesting lives be reduced to corpses that society does not have the capacity to handle, heal, or fully understand.

The procedure after they have been admitted to our facility is that psychiatrists assess their disabilities and prescribe medications that help to calm and re-orient them. While they are adjusting to medication, they often feel nauseous, dizzy, and/or confused. Many sleep for a few days to regain some equilibrium. Also disorienting is that their senses are impaired. Few arrive with their glasses and thus can’t see very well, and many have hearing loss and have lost their hearing aids in the transition. They are frail; a majority of them are in wheelchairs or can only move with the help of walkers. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

An often overlooked age group, the 85 and up set face many challenges that are typically reserved for old age. Memory issues, difficulty finding energy, and the rapid or prolonged loss of friends and loved ones can all contribute to symptoms of depression, which is experienced at a high rate among those in this age group. Efforts to develop targeted therapy programs and other forms of treatment for such clients are on-going, with a recent development having been made through research at the University of Michigan and Kyungpook National University. The research found that involving the very old in family affairs and keeping them informed of events can greatly help to ward off symptoms of depression. A simple strategy, including the elderly in decisions and discussions may go a long way towards relieving some of the psychological burden often carried during old age.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Francisco Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

As might be imagined, a number of elderly people who struggle with various forms of cancer also experience thoughts and feelings of depression, an issue which has prompted those in several disciplines of medicine to seek new ways to help improve the quality of life of this specific group. While the administration of anti-depressant medications is an option taken by many general practice physicians, a strong push to supplement such treatments with more reliable, potentially beneficial counseling and other mental health services has gained momentum in recent years, one of the results of which is a study evaluating the efficacy of a new collaborative treatment program for seniors with cancer.

The program, dubbed IMPACT, or Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment, focused on providing elderly cancer patients in a study group with direction and support for any anti-depressant or other psychiatric drugs being taken, along with supportive counseling treatment in a structured environment on a consistent schedule, including participation in pleasant events and the introduction of problem resolution strategies. The researchers involved with the study found that those participants who took part in the IMPACT program had a significantly higher rate of recovery than those who received usual care, a difference of twenty one percent in favor of the collaborative approach. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Hollywood Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

Most people who retain steady careers throughout their lives spend a fair amount of time thinking about, and planing for, their eventual retirement. Hailed as a momentous and positive occasion, retirement is often considered in terms of its potential to allow for some much-needed relaxation and personal time following a lengthy dedication to one’s work. But a number of people may find that once they’ve retired, the sense of purpose with which they worked is absent, and this sudden absence may lead to feelings of depression and other negative emotions. To stay active and socially involved, some pensioners may choose to participate in local clubs or groups, but a study recently conducted at the University of Maryland suggests that going back to work may be just the thing for preserving mental health.

The study is unique in that while other academic efforts have linked working after retirement to the enjoyment of improved mental health, controls have not been in place to determine whether pre-existing health benefits were enjoyed by those who scored higher ostensibly as a result of the continued work. This study made the effort to incorporate precisely such controls, enabling the researchers to conclude that working after retirement does in fact improve mental health. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Sacramento Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

Suicide is a tragic even that many mental health professionals have taken as central to their careers and fields of study. Hoping to decrease the rates of suicide throughout the population and to develop and distribute effective and meaningful care for those in pain, professionals who work with suicide as a subject of study are typically on the lookout for factors that play a role in thoughts and feelings about suicide, attempts, and successful terminations. One study concentrating on suicide recently performed at the University of Lund in Sweden examined how age and past behaviors relating to suicide impact successful attempts. With a broad participant group collected from hospital records from over thirteen years, the researchers set to work to question how multiple suicide attempts, along with their severity, might interact with age in the determination of likelihood that a given subject would commit suicide.

The study found that in general, the likelihood of suicide decreased with age, however both sexes were correlated with certain behaviors that indicated an increased risk as they became older. Specifically, women who had participated in a large number of suicide attempts were significantly more likely to successfully commit suicide as they aged, and men who were associated with severe attempts were indicated for a greater occurrence of completed suicide. The risk factors of repetition and severity were not seen in equal measures between men and women. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Louisville Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

While it’s a popular and commonly-held idea that the brain grows stronger and people become more knowledgeable and mentally apt as they cage, the facts of brain biology can be harsh. Into one’s 30’s, mental decline has likely already begun to take place, with some indications that the process can start as early as the end of one’s second decade. People approaching middle age may find that their memory seems to fail them from time to time, or they might experience a decrease in the ability to focus or to approach a given subject with sharpness and efficiency. In tandem with these unwanted aspects of aging, many mental health professionals an people in general are growing increasingly concerned about the prevalence of dementia and other mental health issues that can take root during and after the transition into old age. A relatively new response to these concerns has been the creation of “brain training” games and activities, which often report the ability to “exercise” the brain as though it were a muscle, purportedly making it stronger.

However, those with insight into the fields of medical biology and cognitive science note that the brain is not all that similar to a muscle, and while it may be tested and bolstered by some kinds of use, simple “reps” of baseline mental exercises aren’t likely to do much more than entertain. However, it may be the case that some brain training games and activities approach concepts and ways of thinking that a given mind has not yet encountered, and in such new situations, the brain may be able to experience gains in agility and readiness. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fort Collins Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

The experience of declining memory may be common to the process of aging, but a new study performed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that such an experience doesn’t have to be the norm. Working with information collected from over nineteen thousand participants over the age of forty five, the extensive study measure the relationship between high diastolic blood pressure and memory loss, finding that for each ten-point increase, there was a seven percent higher likelihood of difficulties in memory retrieval. The study may help those counseling people towards better health as they age explore greater options for preserving cognitive function.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Nashville Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

A popular conception of the elderly is that they’re often plagued by sadness, loneliness, a decline in cognitive ability, and enjoy a poorer quality of life than their younger counterparts. As the proportion of senior citizens in the global population is expected to spike dramatically in the coming years, such a dreary outlook may cause weariness over the prospect of growing old. Yet this popular conception may not be at all reliable, a review of several studies performed on the elderly has suggested that on the contrary, happiness tends to increase well into old age.

Taking a close look at a range of research initiatives working with senior citizens, the review found that the elderly are particularly well adapted to common challenges in mental well-being, often surpassing younger populations. The reviewers note that older adults are less prone to put much weight into the thoughts and opinions of others, whereas younger people may be heavily affected by criticism and peer judgment. The widespread realization among the elderly that life is drawing towards a close may also help account for an increased level of happiness, as the present is more fully embraced and enjoyed. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Glendale Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Update

Smoking Cessation Therapies May Ward Off Dementia

Cognitive decline is a serious mental health issue affecting a large number of aging people, and tends to strike for a variety of reasons, sometimes without much of any warning. As the progress of medical science marches on, the search for effective treatments for dementia continues, though so far no adequate solutions have been developed. A key focus for interested health professionals, then, is the prevention of dementia, and many studies are being conducted to determine which factors are most likely to play a role in the emergence of this health concern. One such study, carried out in the Netherlands at the National Institute Institute for Public Health and the Environment, has recently published results that represent the culmination of a five year research project into the possibility a link between tobacco smoking and dementia.

The project based its work on nearly two thousand male and female participants, about a tenth of which smoked cigarettes. Initially presenting participants with batteries of cognitive function and other tests, the researchers found that those who smoked performed more poorly than did their non-smoking counterparts. Upon re-testing subjects five years later, the team discovered that the rates of mental decline were 1.9 times faster in the smoking group than in the non-smoking group. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Elm Grove Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

In the Nordic countries, it’s uncommon for the elderly to report feelings of loneliness. But a new study has found that how we normally perceive loneliness in older people is a poor representation of reality. Examining feedback from widows and widowers, the study reveals that stereotypes about lonely seniors have little to do with how we experience such feelings later on in life. source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703065456.htm

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Beverly Hills Bureau - All Rights Reserved.