Contact: Amanda Barusch
Phone: 801 581-8842
Writer: Karen Wolf
Phone: 801 581-4628
Email: [email protected]
POSITIVE ATTITUDE ON ILLNESS MAY HELP ELDERLY WARD OFF DEPRESSION
Older adults who have a positive attitude about their physical health may be at a lower risk for becoming depressed, according to a study from the University of Utah.
In fact, a person who insists -- despite evidence to the contrary -- that he or she is not sick "may be applying a well-established strategy for maintaining self-esteem and warding off depression," according to research by Amanda Barusch, Anissa Rogers and Soleman H. Abu-Bader from the Social Research Institute, the research arm of the U.'s Graduate School of Social Work.
The researchers interviewed 100 chronically ill clients, 87 of whom were women, in a community-based care program for low-income elderly at risk of nursing home placement. More than a third of the respondents reported significant depressive symptoms.
Subjects were asked a battery of questions about their health, their social support, their ability to complete daily tasks, and their frequency of depressive symptoms, among other queries. At the end of the interview, they were asked to discuss their illness, including how the illness had affected their lives, and whether or not they considered themselves "sick."
That simple question, "Do you consider yourself a sick person?" was more significantly associated with depression than perceived health status, the researchers found.
"Most of them would say things like, `I'm not sick because I can still take care of myself,' `I may be disabled, but I'm not sick,' or ëI don't like to think of myself as sick,'" Barusch says. "They were certainly aware of their physical status, but for a variety of reasons, they rejected the label."
Thirty-four percent of the group dismissed the "sick" label. Those who considered themselves sick scored higher on a depression scale than those who did not.
The research underscored previous studies which had determined that people who are functionally impaired are more depressed than those who are not. "Interventions that minimize functional limitation will have a secondary benefit in the improved mental health of frail elders," according to the U. research.
"If we avoid applying negative labels to people, we'll be more effective in delivering services, and we'll be better able to meet people's needs," Barusch says.
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