For more than 40 years, Judy Young and her 75-year-old spouse, Meg Chalmers, shared so much: camping, antiquing, traveling. The retired nurses from Northwood, N.H., planned many more active years together. “We thought we would have a wonderful retirement, doing many things, enjoying a fantastic quality of life, having our health,” said 68-year-old Young.
But two years ago, Chalmers was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, and Young assumed a new role, that of caregiver. After six months of wrestling with what she called daily grief, Young realized she was suffering from depression.
Many such baby boomers will cope with depression later in life, when the illness can present symptoms and challenges specific to that age group. Seniors who are depressed are more likely than those who are not to die or have serious complications after a major medical event. While seniors are less likely to be depressed than younger people, the size of the baby boom population will demand new strategies to care for them.
Experts have long seen that generation as a “silver tsunami” that will require extra resources, and the mental health needs of this age group are the often-neglected underside of the tsunami, said Stephen Bartels, director of the Centers for Health and Aging at Dartmouth College.
By 2030, there will be as many as 14 million American seniors with mental health or substance abuse disorders, up from 5 million to 8 million today, according to the Institute of Medicine. Depressive disorders, along with dementia-related behavioral and psychiatric symptoms, are the most common maladies facing that group. Some experience depression for the first time in older age; others have chronic conditions.
“Depression is underrecognized and undertreated in older adults,” Bartels said.
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