Protection from late life depression

Abstract

The frequency of late life depression is estimated to be low relative to the frequency in young adulthood and middle age, as documented in many community-based epidemiological studies from Western populations. We first reported such a low-frequency in 1980 (though we did not compare the frequency of late life depression with that earlier in life) (Blazer and Williams, 1980). Since that time, many community-based studies have documented this lower frequency (Blazer et al., 1994; Kessler et al., 2003; Hasin et al., 2005). Yet a review of the origins of late life depression at first glance may suggest that older persons are at significant increased risk compared to adults in young adulthood and mid-life (Blazer, 2003; Blazer and Hybels, 2005).