One in four older adults in the country suffers from a disease that is becoming more and more evident: anguish or anxiety. And this situation not only leads to mental or emotional disorders, but also physical disorders that can lead to death or suicide.
Oscar Osorio Ospina
The Eje Cafetero presents the highest rates of population aging in Colombia. According to recent studies in Quindío, the population group over 60 years of age is 19.2%, in Caldas it is 18.7% and in Risaralda it is 17.8%. This means, in our case, that 18 out of every 100 people have already exceeded that age barrier.
And while this happens, today’s hectic world ends up cornering the elderly to a secondary level within the home or, as happens in many cases, their children or relatives condemn them to live in a nursing home or a geriatric home because they consider them a hindrance to your daily life or to your everyday life.
This situation has led to more frequent diseases or disorders associated with this condition in older adults, especially anxiety or anguish that present increasingly severe physical, emotional or mental symptoms, to the point that an investigation A recent report from the Ministry of Health made it clear that anxiety has become the leading cause of morbidity among the elderly population in our country.
On this subject we spoke with the doctor-psychiatrist Uriel Escobar Barrios who has issued a warning about the abandonment and oblivion to which older adults in Colombia are being condemned.
Uriel Escobar Barrios, psychiatristHow is anxiety affecting the elderly population in Colombia and in this region, specifically?
According to the studies that have been done in Colombia and in different parts of the world, anguish occupies the first places in what has to do with morbidity, that is, illness and mental disorders. This anguish or anxiety occurs more frequently in older people and this has a lot to do with the life path that the person has had, but diseases that we know affect the elderly are also influential, in this case the elderly who suffer from some kind of disorders from the organic point of view. What has been found in studies in general terms is that 18% of the Colombian population in general have anxiety or anguish disorders, but in the elderly this percentage increases to 25%, which effectively indicates that this It is a real problem that afflicts the elderly population.
How does this situation of anxiety or anguish manifest itself, what are the physical or mental symptoms?
This has repercussions on a physical, psychological and emotional level and on the relationships that the person establishes with the environment. In a very general way, at a physical level, the main manifestations are tachycardia and sweating; on a mental level, the person has difficulty concentrating, complains that there is a flow of very fast thoughts that they cannot elaborate; At an emotional level, we can observe that the person has, in addition to sweating, a subjective sensation due to the fact that one cannot sit still and in interaction with others, that person loses the ability to concentrate, their work performance decreases in case of you are working and may have difficulty remembering some events, because you do not focus attention. We can say, then, that it is a range of manifestations that affects the total being.
Can this situation also lead to mortality rates?
All mental disorders are risk factors to decrease not only quality of life but also life expectancy. We know that a person with a picture of anguish or anxiety can be fertile ground, let’s say, for alterations to occur, such as heart attacks, increases in blood pressure that can also lead to cerebrovascular accidents and which can also aggravate, as has been seen in many studies, pre-existing diseases, especially chronic diseases. It has been detected, for example, that the person with anguish has a decrease in their natural defenses and when this occurs they are easier prey for viruses and bacteria. So without a doubt it does have a lot to do with the quality of life and with the life expectancy of people.
And also with suicide attempts?
Of course, because many people report that the pressure they are feeling is a lot, it is a continuous and permanent pressure, which finally comes to ask themselves: “everything I have felt, why am I suffering and suffering so much? it is better to die to rest”. This is how people verbalize it verbatim: it is better to rest from this suffering, from this anguish.
How much responsibility falls on the family and on society in general that is condemning the elderly to loneliness?
That is one of the main risk factors, which has a greater impact. We at the RED International Association have worked hard to prevent stigma, a scenario in which elderly people are stigmatized, they are considered by many segments of the population as people who have already completed a cycle, they are like old furniture or useless, and hence the tendency for them not to participate in family activities, isolates them and that generates not only loneliness but also a feeling of rejection. The idea that we always transmit is that old age well lived allows the person to fully participate in all activities and should be, not a source of shame, but rather a source of pride for their grandchildren, for their children and for the people who are around, because it is supposed that the elderly in general terms symbolize the memory of the community, the collective memory and in fact in many societies, such as indigenous communities, for example, the elderly are given the leading role that they must play, How is the person who guides, who helps and who advises.
Can this condition be treated from a medical, psychological or psychiatric point of view?
Anguish is a disorder, it is a perfectly treatable disease and the strategies are multiple and the idea is to carry out a comprehensive treatment. When I say comprehensive treatment, I refer to the fact that if the person needs medication, then drugs are used, but This is not enough, psychotherapy must also be done, allowing the elderly person to verbalize their problems and their difficulties, which has proven to be a fundamental element. The other thing is the intervention at the family level, it is key and essential that the family welcome the elderly person with affection, with respect, with love, as well as group activities, that there are groups that revolve around so that the elderly person can have fun, share, play, dance, learn new things that he or she had not been able to do as a result of their work, but there are also activities on a social level, which is what we were talking about recently. Older adults must be given the role they deserve in society, as people who have experience, who have knowledge, and their counseling is important. To the extent that society changes that view of the elderly, without a doubt this also contributes to making them feel useful, they feel empowered and it is of course part of their quality of life.