Day 275 (January 8th)--Mental Illness is NOT a result of aging

Today I had an opportunity to attend a training sponsored by the Department of Human Services on the above topic. I have been to some trainings before which were snoozers but this one was a great training. I learned so much from this training there is no way I could put it all on here but here are some of the main things.

-(This is something I knew already but...)Mental Illness and Dementia are not the same thing. Dementia is a physical diagnonis and Mental Illness is a disorder that is diagnosed under the DSM IV.

-Seniors deal with Mental Illness differently so you cannot treat them the same way as you would a 20 year old with the same disorder. A lot of Seniors came from the age where "you help your family before you help yourself" (eg World War 2 survivors and survivors of the great depression).

-Younger patients have the highest diagnosis of Depression. Elderly patients have make up the largest percentage of those diagnosed with Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress disorder.

-Seniors tend not to go in for treatment as medicare has a HUGE deductible for mental health services.

-If you give a Senior a number for a crisis number, they probably will not call it. They do not like to ask for help. The want someone to come alongside them and help them.

This was a great training for me to attend. I hope my co-workers get the opportunity to attend a session like this. =)

-Jackie