Abstract
Mental health disorders are common in older adults and seriously affect their quality of life. This chapter mainly focuses on the most prevalent mental health disorders among older adults: depressive and anxiety disorders. Their prevalences range from around 2% (for full-blown psychiatric disorders) to 15% (for subclinical forms) in community-dwelling older adults. Although half of affected older adults have an early onset disorder with a chronic or remittent course into later life, many older adults experience their first onset of mental disorder in later life. Comorbidity with other mental health disorders, and also with physical illnesses, is common. For example, individuals who have somatic diseases and impairments have a greater onset rate of both depression and anxiety, and having depression or anxiety increases the risk of subsequent morbidity, cognitive impairment, physical decline and mortality. The overlap with other mental and somatic conditions complicates the detection and treatment of mental health disorders in older adults. However, there is evidence for the effective prevention of depression and anxiety in older adults, as well as effective psychological and pharmacological treatments.
Published Version
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