Your Safety is our Priority! Masks May Be Required at Millennium Offices. More than half of people older than 65 believe it’s normal to get depressed as they age. Not true! Millennium Physician Group Internal Medicine Physician Bruce Lipschutz, DO, says beating the blues can be as easy as adding your mental health to the list of things you discuss with your primary-care provider.
“Signs we may see that aren’t obvious can be aches and pains and “I have a sore back,” or “I have a lot of belly pain” or headaches or confusion, or forgetfulness. But really it’s about depression and being down.”
Your golden years should be your very best years, but that’s not always the case. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports older adults are at increased risk for depression and it’s more common in people who also have other illnesses (such as heart disease or cancer). The CDC says about 80% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and 50% have two or more. The US Preventive Task Force recommends if you’re over 60 you should be periodically screened for depression.
“Depression screening in Millennium involves a nine-question PHQ-9 depression screen where there are four answers, four possible answers, for each of the questions,” explains Dr. Lipschutz. “This has a very high sensitivity and specificity for most patients, and it’s a clue that we at Millennium try to follow up on.”
Screening for depression can help identify patients who may benefit from interventions. Studies show that recognizing and treating depression can improve your overall physical well-being as well.
“I never thought I would treat as much depression in my practice as I do” admits Dr. Lipschutz. “And it’s one of the most gratifying things, to take a patient from being down, negative, poor sleep, and give them a whole new life for their family, for themselves, for their job, for their kids. It’s gratifying.”