Today is World Health Day. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has chosen to focus on depression this year, in it’s Depression: let’s talk campaign. The aim of the campaign is to get people with depression to seek help.
The WHO has identified strong links between depression and other diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The link also goes in the opposite direction, so people with these diseases are also more likely to become depressed.
Depression is a common mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer.
In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness; and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
At CuraCare, we see many older people with depression. The personal contact and companionship that we provide often helps towards tackling this but real ‘treatment’ for depression comes as part of a wider strategy.
For more information about ways in which CuraCare’s services can help older people living with depression, see our services page. For more information about wider support for people with depression in the Richmond borough, see Richmond Wellbeing Service.
