Older Adults May Be More Resilient During Pandemic Than Younger People

Older adults may be more resilient to the anxiety, depression, and stress-related mental disorders that are being reported by younger adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to anarticle inJAMA.“[S]tudies from different countries have shown that at least some older adults are not experiencing disproportionately increased negative mental health consequences commensurate with the elevated risks they faced during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote Ipsit Vahia, M.D., med ical director of Geriatric Psychiatry Outpatient Services at McLean Hospital; past APA President Dilip Jeste, M.D., director of the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at UC San Diego; and Charles Reynolds III, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Ce nter.Vahia and colleagues cited a survey of 5,412 community-dwelling adults conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from June 24 to 30. The survey found that compared with younger age groups, the percentage of participants aged 65 years or older with anxiety disorder (6.2%), depressive disorder (5.8%), or trauma- or stress-related disorder (9.2%) was lower. According to the report, of the 731 participants aged 18 through 24 years, 49.1% reported anxiety disorder; 52.3%, depressive disorder; and 46%, trauma- or stress-related disorder. The findings mirror those of other high-income countries, including Spain, Canada, and the Netherlands, they noted.Vahia and colleagues ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety COVID-19 depression JAMA older adults resiliency stress trauma wisdom Source Type: research