A study by the AARP found that 95% of older adults believe mental health care can help improve their mental health. Yet 61% choose not to get it because they’d rather handle it alone.
Seniors are at increased risk for mental health problems as they age, and still, so many turn down emotional care in aging. Sadly, there’s a stigma in senior care that causes them to buck up rather than seek help. The longer they put off behavioral health education, though, the worse their problems may get.
Why is there a stigma around mental health for seniors in Luling, LA? Let’s take a closer look at this curious yet complicated senior mental wellness obstacle.
Why Is There a Stigma Around Mental Health?
There is no easy answer to why older adults are in favor of mental health awareness, yet they turn down the treatment they need. Psychology Today suggests seniors needs get overlooked due to a combination of ageism, generational upbringing, culture, the US medical system, and more. Let’s take a closer look at the biggest of these challenges.
Generational Upbringing
Why is there a stigma around mental health for seniors? We’d credit it in great part to the mindset that seniors were raised with. Seniors come from a generation when mental health problems were, frankly, disregarded and scoffed at.
As such, admitting that one had mental health issues used to be tantamount to admitting weakness and inferiority. Seeking treatment was difficult at the time, too. Being discovered to receive treatment could come with serious social and reputational consequences.
Things have changed, without a doubt. But after most of a lifetime in such an environment, it’s no wonder seniors struggle to open up. Having said that, this isn’t defeatist because seniors can still come around and get the help they need.
Unhealthy Coping Strategies
Despite such a negative societal view of mental health issues back in the day, mental health problems still very much existed. Admitting these issues or getting help was a no-go for most people. So, many secretly developed their own coping strategies to deal with them and masked their symptoms.
Unfortunately, this led to a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms, like drinking. While coping mechanisms could make life a bit more manageable, they came with serious side effects. Coping mechanisms are like crutches, unable to fix the problem or stop it from getting worse.
After years and years of employing these ineffective coping strategies, many seniors simply struggle to kick the habit. Their first instinct might be to drown out their problems with a bottle rather than try Dimensions mental wellness programs. Of course, this doesn’t mean that seniors can’t learn to turn it around and try new strategies, but it does make it more difficult.
Misunderstandings about Senior Decline
There is a staggering amount of misinformation about what it’s like to be a senior and how increasing age affects one’s health. In particular, many simply have a misinformed understanding of what senior decline entails. Chief among these is the assumption that seniors are going to decline, so it’s normal to expect increased mental health issues alongside dementia and memory troubles.
To be fair, the aging process does create debilitating conditions that exacerbate or create mental health issues. Senior depression is more common when there is a heart issue, limitations in daily function, and sleep troubles. However, this doesn’t mean that seniors can’t have mental health issues independent of these factors — issues that may have been around for decades already.
It’s quite common for a senior to have been struggling with something their entire life, only to get diagnosed in their 60s onward. As we’ve mentioned, it can take a lot of time to overcome the hurdles of generational mental health stigmas and unhealthy coping strategies. Outsiders may see this as the decline, when in reality, it’s just a coincidence.
How to Deal With the Stigma
In the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, what can people do to help seniors overcome this stigma? Quite a lot. Don’t let it ever be said that an old dog can’t learn new tricks.
Advocating for Mental Health Treatment
The simplest method is to advocate more often and openly about getting treatment. As we’ve mentioned, treatment for a long time was something a person sought in secret, in the dark. Having treatment in the open and unconcealed normalizes it, and may encourage reticent seniors to finally give it a shot.
More Education
Educating people always leads to better outcomes. Many seniors have gone most of their lives without proper mental health awareness. If they’re aware that something is a problem and that there’s a solution to it, they’ll be much more likely to seek help.
Education can be of the formal variety, like with Dimensions’ mental wellness programs. But it can also be informal. Having supportive family members, friends, and community professionals casually extolling the virtues of mental health treatment goes a long way.
Seeing the Results
Another way to break down the barrier of the stigma is for seniors to see the results with their own eyes. In particular, seeing how treatment helps their community member peers. If they go to a senior living community event and see that someone’s looking a lot more chipper, that could change their mind about therapy.
Things become stigmatized due to a culture of silence, after all. Everyone willingly keeps quiet rather than speaking up, allowing the stigma to continue uncontested. The more people get treatment and the more they show their friends that it works, the sooner things change.
Find Your Community in Luling, LA
Why is there a stigma around mental health for seniors? It mostly has to do with how they were raised and the ineffective coping mechanisms they’ve acquired. But as powerful as the stigma may be, it can be broken down with advocacy and education.
SummerHouse Ashton Manor in Luling, LA, is a welcoming senior community that works hard to tear down mental health stigmas. In addition to our exclusive health and wellness programs, we provide countless fun social events to help seniors deal with what’s on their minds. Schedule a tour to see what you’re missing.
