The necessity of geriatric mental health awareness

Blog post written by Nazia Tabasum A

The month of May is observed as mental health awareness month. So, underscoring this month’s specialty, in this blog post I wanted to explore a less-spoken topic, which is about geriatric mental health issues.

Recently released Tamil movie, J Baby, realistically portrays a story that is based on a true incident which occurred in 2013. A mother of five named Baby is an elderly woman who is often causing trouble for her family. Due to her mental illness and family conflicts, she leaves her hometown and family, and travels to a different state without knowing the language and people.

Fortunately, a kind-hearted person who belongs to her district, finds her identity with the help of the police and calls her sons to safely take her back to their home.

This movie not only covers the search story of a lost mother and her sons. It also showcases the negligence of sons and daughters when their mother suffers from dementia and bipolar disorder.

Media and books often shed light on the mental health issues of youngsters and middle-aged adults. While it is subsequently sad to see that the mental issues of senior citizens are rarely discussed, I am glad that this movie uniquely describes the importance and necessity of concentrating on the mental health issues faced by the elderly.

Although we prioritize taking care of the physical health of the elderly population, we fail to understand that those underlying health issues are primarily caused by unspoken mental health issues.

Anxiety, depression, panic attacks, sleep disorders, loss of appetite, bipolar disorder, dementia, and amnesia—all of these can have a major impact on the health of aging people.

Since senior citizens are reluctant to seek help due to fear and embarrassment, these psychological disorders are not easily identified. Thus, their family members mistakenly understand the symptoms as physical health issues caused merely by old age.

As per the India Ageing Report 2023, on the basis of data collected from the year 2022, there are almost 149 million people over the age of 60 in India. According to the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), which was conducted in 2020, one in five elders has mental health problems.

As the managing director of the Natchathira old age home, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Dr. Jegan (D.C.T.E.), ensures to provide immense care, abundant support, and meaningful companionship to the elderly people.

He and his team are committed to providing basic facilities, medical care, and various recreational activities on a regular basis for the senior residents. This brings many visible changes to their mental health, as those activities help to improve the cognitive and emotional well-being of those seniors.

He insists that mental health issues in elderly people should not be taken lightly but promptly addressed, and if they are suffering from these conditions, they should be well taken care of.

He also adds that entertainment activities, open conversations, yoga practice, and spiritual guidance sessions can help the elderly to stay active in terms of both physical and mental health.

In short, when older people suffer from mental health problems, they don’t share much about them because they consider themselves as a burden of the family.

Hence, it is the responsibility of every individual to regularly keep a track on the elderly’s mental health by spending quality time with them.

This will not only improve their emotional well-being but, at the same time, can make them feel loved, cared for, and respected.

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