Abandoned minds : the escalating crisis of geriatric mental illness

Older adults are susceptible to the same mental afflictions that affect other age groups; depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and other illnesses affect all adult age groups to varying degrees. Yet despite recent improvements in the research attention given to mental disorders and reductions in the stigma against such illnesses in younger age groups, the elderly remain a vastly underserved segment of the population in both mental health research and care. They are not underrepresented in numbers, however: the National Institutes of Health place the population of adults 65 and older "on the threshold of a boom," predicting that the age group will include 72 million individuals by the year 2030 and comprise 20 percent of the U.S. population. The trend is expected to begin in earnest when the first Baby Boomers turn 65 just five years from now, in 2011. Yet despite these numbers and the population's high risk of mental illness - the elderly are more prone to mental illness than any other age group - the U.S. health system remains grossly unprepared for the mental health needs of the elderly population.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Sipics, Michelle

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Boyce Rensberger.

• Graduate Program in Science Writing.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39442

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39442