ABSTRACT
Occupational therapy is directly concerned with a person's ability to meet their personal needs for engagement in activity within the context of their physical and social environments. The more powerfully an individual is motivated, the more likely they are to actually participate in an activity, and affective disorders can have a profound impact on an individual's motivation towards engagement in activity. In addition to the impact of affective disorders on an individual's ability to engage in their role-set, it is important to acknowledge the profound effect of role loss on mental health. Ageing can sometimes represent a contraction of our overall role-set. A note of caution must be sounded: occupational function is not just about being able to cope independently with activities of daily living, nor is it about having a routine crammed with activity. Occupational behaviour is enabled by physical, cognitive and interpersonal skills.
