DEPRESSION |
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Trembling like a tomb And singing like a statue I am as empty as the ocean. My blind eyes scream in silence So this eternal echo will be known. Given to the foils of time, And shattered like plate glass- You freeze within the fire. Darkness now lives at daylight, And shadows turn to the ghosts. With all that shined is hollow, You imagine unconsciously. And pretending to sleep you realize, Nothing is what it seems. 
Many people in society today have experienced the unceasing sense of hopelessness, exhaustion, and pessimistic outlook in life, which can be seen in a mental illness called depression. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV, 2004) defines depression as a disorder of mood, characterized by sadness and loss of interest in usually satisfying activities, a negative view of the self and hopelessness, passivity, indecisiveness, suicidal intentions, loss of appetite, weight loss, sleep disturbances, and other physical symptoms. Numerous studies have examined depression in the general community, but studies relating to the elderly have been small and limited. It has been shown that depression in the elderly is rapidly increasing due to the corresponding increase in number of the elderly population. Statistics Canada (2006) states that there were an estimated 3.7 million of 65 plus year old Canadians in the year 1998 and by the year 2041, it is expected that there will be almost 10 million Canadian seniors. In the year 2000, 84% of all Canadians aged 65 and over lived in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, or Alberta and 13% of those seniors are residents in British Columbia. In regards to the increasing number of seniors in Canada, Health Canada (as cited in National Advisory Council on Aging, 2002) mentions that �as many as 20% of people age 65+ suffer mild to severe depression, ranging from perhaps 5 to 10% of seniors in the community to as many as 30 to 40% of those in institutions.� As the population of seniors in Canada increases, there is a higher chance that there will also be an increase in the prevalence of depression in that specific population. |
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 Elderly Depression: A Public Health IssueDeterminants of Depression in the Elderly Role of a Nurse Caring for the Depressed Elderly
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