Older people are less likely to seek mental health support due to ageism and stigma, according to a new report.
The International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) said that older people may face barriers to seeking help, including discrimination and people’s own “generational taboos”.
The authors of the new ILC report said that some clinicians “make ageist assumptions that depression is an inevitable consequence of ageing, and therefore more difficult to treat”.
Estimates suggest that only one in six older people with depression receive a diagnosis in the UK, they added.
Meanwhile some healthcare facilities are “not perceived by patients to be age friendly” and sometimes older people “feel shame” when disclosing their symptoms.
“Stigma and generational taboos around…