Dhasarathi Kumar*

Department of Public Health, SRM University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

*Corresponding Author: Department of Public Health, SRM University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Received: July 16, 2018; Published: July 25, 2018

Citation: Dhasarathi Kumar. “Depression among Elderly in India: An Iceberg Phenomenon". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 2.5 (2018).

  Based on World Health Organization (WHO) age of 60 years and above sixty year are considered elderly, during 2001 census in India overall constitution of elderly is 7% and elderly population is increased by 2016 and it is 8% [1], overall proportion of the elderly population in world was 5.8% during 2000 and it is expected to increase to 8.7% by the year 2025 and 15.0% by the year of 2050 [2]. Almost all the system of the body is affected by ageing and aging involved with several physicals, metabolic and psychosomatic changes. There are many physiological changes which include the decline in physical activity, metabolism, digestion, bone mass and muscle mass. Common physiological problem includes failing eyesight and hearing problem, anorexia due to loss of taste, perception of smell, dental problems, gastro intestinal track changes, constipation and decreased physical activity could lead to overall decrease of food intake and poor absorption of nutrients [3], because the physical health consequences disease is predicted immediately but always mental health problem will be an iceberg phenomenon. Nowadays mental health gaining major attention.

Copyright: © 2018 Dhasarathi Kumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.