anxiety in the elderly
Last reviewed 01/2018
Generalised anxiety, and other anxiety states such as agoraphobia or other specific phobias, may occur in the elderly, either as a continuation of a long established illness or as a new event. Where there is an expectation that old people, especially women, will be dependent and confined to their homes, agoraphobic anxiety may go unrecognised; sometimes widowhood precipitates an anxiety state, not only because of the emotional stress, but because the loss of the husband obliges the widow to manage independently to a degree that she may have never done before. Anxiety symptoms may also result from difficulties with interpersonal problems e.g. when an old patient is living under the same roof as his family.
It is important to differentiate anxiety from depression. Symptomatic treatment of anxiety symptoms will only make matters worse if the patient has a primary depressive disorder.