Facing up to the 10th cause of death in aging men

In walking with the fat man, we face probably four major issues as we age. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia are the culprits who prevent us from a healthy aging. If we are able to age healthy we face normal aging process where we just wear out, overcome due to pneumonia for example. But there is more…

According to an article that I read from Todays Geriatric Medicine March April 2018, p. 23-27 How Physicians Can Help Prevent Elders Suicide, the 10th cause of death among elderly man is suicide. 

Why as we age is suicide a factor? You may have come across the phrase, “Getting old is not for sissies.” For men loss of spouses, increasingly becoming disabled, chronic pain and illnesses, early onset of dementia, in particular terminal conditions set the stage for depression and suicide. 

Only 5% of people who are depressed will commit suicide in their lifetime. But men who reached the age of 85 are more open to the idea of suicide believing that their situation is hopeless. Finding hope in terminal conditions may be the hardest thing that we have to do. The article shares insights in how the doctor can intervene and I think the ideas are well worth reading.

Depressed thinking with people who reached the age of 85 is I think reasonable to assume that there many reasons to be depressed. Pain and suffering from chronic terminal diseases can take a toll on our mental health. Losses all prepare us for the biggest loss in life, our own. We all have a lot in common with those who are suffering with depression as they age. Eventually in our life there are problems that we cannot solve. There may be strategies to help us cope better, but sometimes we face an outcome that we cannot overcome.

I am not endorsing suicide, but I understand it. One of the things that comes into play as we age we may lose cognitive ability to make good decisions. Becoming disabled is very stressful. In many types of dementia there is actual loss in brain matter relating to decision-making and other cognitive skills. There are many types of medicine that can fog our brain. 

I would like to mention two things to consider:

• Because at 63, 25% of us could be clinically depressed. At the age of 85, 50% of us are suffering from some type of dementia. Dementia directly affects how we think and evaluate things. If we see signs of the negative change and you're more likely to see it in a family setting then in a doctors office, we should be part of the intervention. Does the elderly man have a gun? Is it time to confiscate the gun especially in cases of dementia or in periods of depression? The loss of the gun should be determined by the condition the elderly man faces. Will he recover from depression? Is there in the dementia now going to be part of a permanent condition? Is the treatment for some other disease clouding up his use of the brain? It is reasonable to me that we respond to safety of the elderly man and his family.
• At a time on a person may need mental care the most it is actually harder to get professional help. Medical coverage is not available. There are two sides to the coin in my opinion. One his medical care is too expensive to begin with. I'm sorry but I believe greed enters into the equation. On the other hand, we make it too difficult for people to get mental health care in the first place. The criteria of harm to self or others is to narrow. If we treat the heart because we discover the many things go wrong, why haven't we taken the same approach with our brain? The brain is the most complicated organ in our body. Isn't it strange that we should not assume that things may go wrong as we know with our heart. Our brain only faces greater challenges as we age, and yet we ignore this and don't improve how we treat this stuff. 

Vital connection

We need to stay connected. Many of the elderly are isolated, alone dealing with serious medical problems and loss of loved ones. This problem is only going to get worse. Our children and grandchildren live in a lost world isolated on their devices. They are too preoccupied to play one of the biggest rolls in their lives. They don't have time to learn to love and care for their grandparents or parents. You can't call them because they only respond to a text. Maybe? But they're actually building isolated walls for themselves. This aging stuff will fall harder on them. 

I will follow up this post with ideas that are more positive. I think it's a good idea to read about the issues as we age. I'm one hand we can't dwell on them, but on the other hand we need to be informed with the things that we are facing. Living better with whatever we face is one of our goals. Keep walking