Abstract
The ratio of elderly population is increasing in the community; so the old age and associated medical, psychiatric and social problems we face in coming years will increase. As mental disorders take so important place among the old age, greater emphasis are being given to them. Depression is one of the most common psychiatric illness among elderly. Several studies indicate
that 10-25% of people over 65 years suffer from significant depressive symptoms. Elderly depression is different from depression of young and middle aged patients; somatic complaints and cognitive impairment are frequent symptoms of geriatric depression. Conditions like functional handicap, chronic illness, lack of social support, being a woman, a low level of income and cognitive disorders are factors that facilitate depression. Subsyndromal depression in the elderly population is not uncommon.Dysthymic disorder and chronic minor depression which do not represent major depression criteria are reported in public studies and clinical surveys for elderly period. Getting older brings up losses. As a result of this, grief reaction may occur more often. Normal grief reactions are not much different than the ones given by other age groups. It is reported that depressive symptoms of grief disappear in one or two years. However, grief reaction never endscompletely in the elderly. Bipolar disorder is a chronic disorder of mood which leads to episodes of either elevated mood or depression in a sizable number of adults in the community (1%). Bipolar disorder in the elderly is probably heterogenous and its etiopathogenesis is complex. Schizophrenia in the elderly has been largely disregarded by researchers. Over 90% of published papers on schizophrenia have excluded elderly persons with the disorder.
Despite this, approximately 23.5% of patients with schizophrenia developed the illness after the age of 40. Later onset of schizophrenia seems to be more common in women. Old age is also risky for psychiatric disorders like anxiety due to repeated losses.Previous studies suggested that anxiety disorders are more rare among geriatric patients than in younger ones. This might be due to the different appearance of anxiety disorders in geriatric age and to the existing medical illnesses which may complicate psychiatric evaluation. Although depression and other psychiatric disorders in elderly cause significant levels of disability, morbidity and mortality, are generally less known and poorly treated. For this reason, we reviewed the risk factors, clinic, prognosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the elderly.

Key words: Geriatric, Psychiatric Disorder, Depression

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Yaşlılarda Psikiyatrik Bozukluklar

Özet
Yaşlı nüfusun toplum içindeki oranının giderek artıyor olmasıyla yaşlılık ve buna bağlı her türlü tıbbi, psikiyatrik ve sosyal sorun ileriki yıllarda artarak karşımıza çıkacaktır. Bu yüzden yaşlılık dönemi sorunları arasında önemli yer tutan ruhsal bozukluklara daha fazla önem verilmeye başlanmıştır. Yaşlılarda sık gözlenen ruhsal bozuklukların başında depresyon gelmektedir. Ancak depresyon ve diğer psikiyatrik bozukluklar yaşlılarda önemli düzeyde yeti yitimi, mortalite ve morbiditeye sahip olmalarına karşın genellikle az tanınmakta ve yetersiz biçimde tedavi edilmektedirler. Bu nedenle
makalemizde yaşlılarda görülebilecek psikiyatrik bozuklukların risk faktörlerini, klinik belirtilerini, prognozlarını, ayırıcı tanılarını ve tedavilerini gözden geçirdik.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Yaşlılık, Psikiyatrik Bozukluk, Depresyon