The Complex Nature of Mental Health Issues in Older Age

Abstract

My presentation will not deal with dementia, as my co-presenter will fully cover this subject of paramount importance when we talk about mental health in older age. However, there is far more in relation to mental health issues. The absolute and proportional number of individuals who will reach older in the next few decades is staggering, particularly in the Global South. How come someone could reach old age enjoying high levels of well-being and mental health if they have been faced with all sorts of risk factors alongside their life courses? Low educational levels, deprivation, lack of access to social and health services, ill-trained professionals, prejudice…The combination of all of them result in depression, loneliness, and use of drugs (including alcohol). There is also to consider the gender dimension, the plight of immigrants (some of whom are illegal and out of the radar), climatic changes leading to insecurity, and in some countries a staggering number of individuals who age deprived of liberty. Add to that, wars, and horrors; for each death, you will add traumatized family members and close friends suffering the silent pain that those losses represent. Violence is increasingly trivialized and a country does not have to be 'officially’ in a war for such experiences to occur - they have their own internal 'wars’ fueled by political greed, drug trafficking, and militias. For some it has never been so rosy to age, but for the majority of our populations (and not only in the global South) it is tough.