Question

I’m having a very hard time. I have to do a poster pensebtation which I have no clue how to do on

Identify the key mental health disorders that affect the elderly. Determine how these key mental disorders differ across racial, ethic, gender, and socioeconomic lines.

Thank you,

Answer 1

The most common mental and neurological disorders in this age group are dementia and depression, which affect approximately 5% and 7% of the world’s older population, respectively. Anxiety disorders affect 3.8% of the older population, substance use problems affect almost 1% and around a quarter of deaths from self-harm are among people aged 60 or above.Approximately 15% of adults aged 60 and over suffer from a mental disorder.( WHO,2017).
Men ages seventy-five and older have a higher suicide rate than any other age group (38 per 100,000).It is estimated that 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia with nearly 60% living in low- and middle-income countries.Social isolation among older people is particularly significant (especially for women) in raising the risk of mental disorders.

Dementia:

• Latinos and African-Americans at risk.
• Women Affected More Often Than Men.

Depression:

• Women are more likely to be affected than men. Women are at a greater risk: women in general are twice as likely as men to become seriously depressed. Biological factors, like hormonal changes, may make older women more vulnerable.

• Older Caucasian males have the highest rate of suicide in the U.S. resulting from depression.

Anxiety Disorders

• Women are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders

Bipolar Disorders

• Bipolar disorder occurs equally among women and men

Eating disorders

• Anorexia nervosa  has been increasingly detected and identified in the geriatric population, especially in elderly women but also in elderly men.