ABSTRACT
About two-thirds of referrals to social services departments concern older people. Research has shown that many older people who suffer from dementia and depression do not receive the help they require because they have not been diagnosed or identified as needing treatment. Old age can be a time of increased dependency and vulnerability and this can make it difficult for some older people to manage their own lives. Older people are subject to bereavement of family and friends. At times of crises older people need the support of family, and sometimes professionals, to help them through their grief. The most common affective disorder in old age is depression which may be related to some of the stresses. Hypomania is a rarer condition and occurs in about 5 per cent of affective disorders in older people. Schizophrenia in older people can be the result of lifelong illness which has persisted into old age.
