Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

While many adults may feel the ease of retirement and experience a higher quality of life as they age, others who have undergone trauma may find it difficult to overcome the suffering associated with related mental illnesses. PTSD can occur in both Veteran and non-Veteran older adults, and it’s very possible that the disorder may worsen, relapse, or newly emerge later in life. The typical stresses associated with aging can negatively affect patients struggling with PTSD and it is likely that these external complications are the root of increased symptoms. The transition into life as an older adult is often a trigger for patients who have experienced past trauma. Settling into retirement, increased health problems, losing loved ones, declining cognition, and financial uncertainty are factors that could cause an older patient to relive past traumas. Elderly patients who experience symptoms often don’t have access to other coping mechanisms they may have adopted in their youth to subdue the suffering they were experiencing (i.e. consuming alcohol and enveloping oneself in work), which can cause untreated PTSD to appear worse with age; however, it is possible that older adults who have experienced past trauma have learned to cope with their condition as they matured and the negative impacts of the disorder may become less pungent. 

In general, there are a number of reasons that one may develop PTSD, many of which the afflicted has no control over. For example an experience of long-lasting, extensive trauma, or serious injury may put a patient at a high risk for developing the disorder. The most common types of trauma that lead to PTSD are combat and sexual assault. It is extremely important that older patients seek the care of qualified geriatric psychiatrists, as identifying PTSD in older adults has proven to be quite challenging in respect to the more likely presence of varying neurodegenerative illnesses. Telling symptoms of PTSD are often different for older adults than younger adults. Veteran and non-Veteran patients may describe physical pain, sleeping problems, gastrointestinal difficulties, and cognitive issues. Typically, when younger adults experience PTSD, they may describe the emotional implications of their condition, such as depression and anxiety. In the case of Veterans, it is extremely important to pay attention to suicidal behaviors, especially in older and younger PTSD patients. Older and younger Veterans are at a much higher risk of suicide than their middle-aged counterparts.