Aging does factor into depression

I wrote early on in my blog concerning the death of Robin Williams the possibility that aging was a factor. Initially reports indicated long-term alcohol and drug and depression issues were the cause to his suicide. And then there's the omission by his wife that Robin was struggling with early signs of Parkinson's. I was reading a brochure by the national institute of mental-health about depression and Parkinson's and I heard and read different psychiatrists talking about it and I learned that Parkinson’s disease destroys our brain cells that produce dopamine. And for those people who are fighting depression anyway they are more prone to have Parkinson's contribute to their depression. 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-and-parkinsons-disease/index.shtml

There are many medications which replenish our dopamine and serotonin which work very well with people who suffer depression because of Parkinson's. Parkinson's is a disorder that generally has an onset with males after the age of 50. Mr. Williams at the age of 63 had early signs of it. So it seems that aging did play a factor in this particular suicide attempt that led to his tragic death. His long-term problems and self-esteem are also part of the equation. But in his mind with this attempt did he lose hope and did he see failure as an aging actor who was soon be showing signs of visible disease. 

Loss of hope and making a plan to commit suicide is always something to take note.

Dr. Thomas Insel in his blog dated August 13, 2014 commenting on Robin Williams mentioned that suicide is in the top 10 of things that kills and we need to pay attention to it like we do cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2014/robin-williams.shtml

For all of us Robin Williams raises a red flag that we should pay attention to; as we age there are changes that happened that can make is blue. Winston Churchill referred to it as the “black dog”. Keep in mind that Winston Churchill was in the 60s when he was dealing with World War Two and he chose two coping strategies to deal with. For him there was work and alcohol. Churchill didn't lose hope nor make a plan to end his life. The possibility that things happen to us as we get older which could bring on depression points out to our need to identify the symptoms of depression like we would to identify symptoms of heart attack or stroke so that, we get treatment right away. We are less likely to do that with depression because depression distorts our judgment and thinking where we don't see it. 

So many people shared how they are friends with Robin Williams, but if you were they able too really help him see what's going on. The red flag for us is to have people around who can intervene when we need it. There is effective therapy that can help us to change our thinking and combat the lies of depression. We also need a doctor who knows us and if we have a history of depression and show signs of Parkinson's can put two and two together. 

Many of you have read articles about how to identify the signs of a heart attack. Yet when these signs occur how many of those have argued with ourselves about what they mean. Sometimes we just have to trust the instinct to go and have an expert check it out. The same is true with depression, loss of hope, thoughts of failure, helplessness, withdrawal from others,  making a plan to commit suicide. We may not know all the reasons why so we need someone to help us sort it out. Right now there're around 25% of seniors or sitting around depressed and not doing nothing about it. They are living in a dark mood trying to carry on. If that describes you, talk to people you love and see what they say, talk to your General practitioner and see if he has a recommendation of a doctor that you can see. Walking with the fat man means we choose to do something healthy for us so that whatever days we have left to live are the best days that we can do. Keep walking