DR. VAN DELLEN WRITES Security Helps Steer Aged To New Lease on Life There may be no correlation between hardening of the arteries of the brain and mental disturbances accompanying senility. This means that the severe depressions, the suspicions, and the senile dementias that develop in the aged need not be the result of changes in the brain. Emotional factors may produce mental disturbances, regardless of age. This helps us to understand why those who have survived three score and 10 with a healthy personality, who feel secure and wanted, or who still are engaged in a useful occupation are likely to be alert and keen of mind. In the past, when grandma began to act a little peculiar, suspicious of others, or disinterested in living, she was hustled to a state institution as a hopeless case. As Last Resort Now commitment should be regarded as the last resort, to beused only when home, medical, or psychiatric treatment fail. There is a good possibility that insecurity and loss of self esteem are responsible. The mental depression that follows retirement often is traceable to the letdown of being somebody one day and no one the next. This is a critical period and is fostered by the prevalent idea that old people are a lost cause. It is at this stage that the man needs help because the longer the depression continues the more helpless and dependent he becomes and the family must pitch in to give him the boost he needs. Physical ailments such as malnutrition, anemia, infections, and toxic conditions must be eliminated. In some instances the adjustment is aided by the administration of sex hormones or thyroid extract and other remedies including vitamin B complex and vasodilating drugs such as aminophyllin and nicotinic acid. Improvement Follows Sometimes attention to the physical side is followed by improvement in the emotional. If not, the mental state requires evaluation by someone competent along this line. Now that we know hardening of the arteries is not necessarily responsible, good mental hygiene can be tried and usually it will take care of the remaining problems. When this is done properly, depression disappears and the elderly person acquires a new lease on life. In my opinion, many problems of the aged can be solved by giving them some responsibility so that they will continue to achieve and have a goal in life. After all, everyone from the craddle to the grave craves affection, recognition, approval, and a feeling of belonging. Dependency breeds insecurity, frustration, and anxiety and these disturbances are the very foundation of mental illness.