A third of Brazilian seniors report depressive symptoms and 16% feel lonely

The research was conducted on nearly 8,000 people and the results worry specialists. Understand

EINSTEIN AGENCY – More than a third of Brazilian adults (34%) experience depressive symptoms and 16% say they feel loneliness. Furthermore, the presence of these feelings is four times more common among the elderly who report feeling always alone, and running the risk of developing them depression doubles for the simple fact that the person lives alone.

This was revealed by a study conducted by researchers at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), who concluded that loneliness is more associated with the female gender, with feelings of poor quality sleep and with poor self-evaluation of health as a condition. Total. The results were published in the journal “Cadernos de Saúde Pública”.

The survey was based on responses from 7,957 people aged 50 and older to the first edition of the Longitudinal Study of the Health of the Brazilian Elderly (ELSI-Brazil). Participants were asked how often they felt lonely or alone and could answer “always”, “sometimes”, or “never”. Of the nearly 8,000 respondents, 34% reported experiencing depressive symptoms, while 16% said they experienced feelings of loneliness. Among those who reported depressive symptoms, 33% mentioned always feeling alone.

Participants’ depressive symptoms were assessed using a standard used in scientific studies to check for symptoms of depression in adults. It is a scale composed of eight indirect items, without the word depression, in which researchers ask questions about common symptoms. If the person answered at least four of the eight questions in favor of depression, they were considered to have depressive symptoms.

“There is little difference between naming this variable as depression or as a depressive symptom, since depression is a medical diagnosis. For that, our data source should be a medical record. Since our database was a direct interview with the elderly and we evaluated the symptoms they reported, we chose to call the variable depressive symptoms and not depression,” explained geriatrician and doctoral student in gerontology Paulo Afonso Sandy Junior, one of the leaders of the study.

Difference between loneliness and social isolation

According to Sandy Junior, loneliness or feeling lonely is defined as a negative and painful sensation, usually subjective, that occurs when people expect to receive more from their social relationships and receive less, generating dissatisfaction and a feeling of loneliness. It is different from social isolation, which is something more objective, which we can measure through indicators such as living alone, having infrequent social contacts, having low levels of social activity or interactions with other people.

“When I talk about social isolation, I’m talking about something objective. It’s not because a person has few relationships or lives alone that they will necessarily feel lonely. Likewise, a person can feel lonely by not being isolated, being married, having friends, work,” said Sandy Junior.

The researcher also explained that living alone is one of the indicators of social isolation, but the fact of living alone, explains the geriatrician, does not mean that the elderly will have the negative and painful sensation or perception that social relationships do not satisfy them . But, especially in the Brazilian population, living alone ends up being a risk factor for feeling alone.

“We are talking about people aged 50 or more and there is a particularity in this population, especially in the elderly, because living alone is not always a choice, it is inevitable. It is very difficult for an elderly person in Brazil to live alone because they want to , because they have the economic conditions to support themselves, because they are healthy or because they feel comfortable. Most of the time they live alone due to lack of options and this ends up reflecting on other things. worst, that he has limitations, that increases the addiction. And without having supportive relationships, this elderly person ends up feeling more alone, “evaluated the researcher.

The relationship between loneliness and depression is known to science and is an increasingly discussed topic, especially due to the aging of the population and the increase in life expectancy. According to Sandy Junior, the research findings are very concerning because a depressed and lonely person has less motivation to follow steps for healthy aging and to maintain health-promoting behaviors – such as engaging in physical activities, maintaining social and recreational activities, eating healthy, do not smoke and do not drink.

“These health-damaging behaviors are associated with negative mental health. Depressed and lonely people have more negative health outcomes: they die more, they die earlier, they have more dementia, more frailty, more functional losses. This directly affects the health of aging people.” said the doctor.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.