Introduction

It is perhaps not surprising that elderly people become depressed. The final decades of life bring with them a shrinking social world, increasing ill health and reduced social standing. Whether because depression in the elderly is superficially understandable or because older people are reluctant to seek help, depression in the elderly has, in the past, been underdiagnosed and is often now under-treated. This is the unacceptable face of ageism; underlying this book is our experience that the elderly can, and should, remain free from depressive illness.