Depression and suicide are common issues for elderly. Older adults appear to be especially vulnerable to depression and other mental disorders. Taking into account the aging of the baby-boom generation, the depression in elderly is likely to contribute to increased suicide rate in this group. Depression is not only one of the most prevalent disorders in elderly but is also a pervasive social and healthcare problem. Depressed elderly are at risk of substance abuse, poor health habits, and suicide.
Brown and Vinokur (2003) argue that elderly are at risk of suicidal behavior due to job loss, poor physical health, and the belief in being a burden to others. Those older people who are physically ill, depressed, and unemployed feel like a burden for their relatives and may consider suicide as the only viable option. Brown and Vinokur (2003) suggest that supportive communication, expressed care and love increase the likelihood of suicide and depression among the elderly as they feel more regret about the burden they place on lives of others. Conwell and Pearson (2002) highlight that anxiety and alcohol use in elderly contribute to depression and eventually lead to suicide intentions.
Furthermore, Benshoff et al (2003) note that substance abuse in elderly is rather challenging to identify due to societal beliefs about this group and coexisting disabilities. Moreover, the professionals often neglect the correlation among forgetfulness, emotional instability, depression, and substance abuse.
While significant body of research has been devoted to the study of depression in elderly, little attention has been paid to the investigation of substance abuse, emotional instability, burden feelings, and depression. Moreover, no research has been done to assess the impact of these factors on suicide intentions in older adults. Thus, the hypotheses for this study are:
- H (1): Burden feelings, emotional instability, and substance abuse are positively correlated with the depression
- H (2): Depression in elderly caused by burden feelings and substance abuse is positively correlated with the suicide intentions.
Brown and Vinokur (2003) hypothesized that poor physical health and depression exacerbated the adverse effects on suicidal intentions; however, no research has been previously done to test the impact of burden feelings and emotional instability on suicide intentions among elderly. Benshoff et al (2003) investigated the co-morbidity of substance abuse and mental health problems such as depression in elderly but no analysis has been done to trace the link between depression and suicide.
The above hypotheses will be tested through the correlational research as it aims at examining the relationships between five non-manipulated variables. The independent variables for this research include burden feelings, emotional instability, and substance abuse. The dependent variable is depression. The correlated variables are depression and suicide intentions. Even though correlation does not indicate the cause-and-effect relationship among the variables, the proposed study is expected to provide valuable insights into the correlation among burden feelings, emotional instability, substance abuse, depression, and suicide intentions.
The study has two specific objectives. Firstly, it will investigate the contribution of burden feelings, emotional instability, and substance abuse to depression development in elderly. Secondly, it will assess the relationship between depression and suicide intentions in elderly. The study will contribute to the existing literature on depression and suicide in elderly. The results of the study will be of high value due to the aging of the baby-boom generation and the risk of significant increase in suicides among elderly. The study participants will be older adults in the age range of 55-80 years old. The sample size will include 5-10 elder people of both genders.
The requirement for inclusion into study is the depression symptoms (the data is to be gained from the interviews with the participants as well as from the medical records obtained with the informed consent of the participants). The participants will be asked to provide answers to a set of prepared questions. Anonymity will be preserved to encourage openness and honesty in conversation. Interview results will be analyzed in the form of discussion. In addition, the study will focus on the comparison of data gained during interviews with the medical record. The comparison will ensure validity and reliability of the results as well as help to trace any bias is interview results.
References
Benshoff, J. Harrawood, L., Koch, D. (2003). Substance Abuse and the Elderly: Unique Issues and Concerns. The Journal of Rehabilitation, 69 (2), 43-52.
Brown, S., Vinokur, A. (2003). The Interplay among Risk Factors for Suicidal Ideation and Suicide: The Role of Depression, Poor Health, and Loved Ones’ Messages of Support and Criticism. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32 (1-2), 131-138.
Conwell, Y., Pearson, J. (2002). Suicidal Behaviors in Older Adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 10 (4), 34-49.