Dementia is common in adults with Down Syndrome, but it is difficult to receive this diagnosis. It may be manifested in different ways depending on the individual. 

Down Syndrome and Dementia

Early
  - Apathy 
  - Withdrawal

Late
 - Severe intellectual deterioration
 - Marked Changes in Personality and Mood
 - Loss of Sphincter Control
 - Onset of epileptic seizures 
 - Loss of mobility with increased muscle tone
 - Eventual complete loss of all self-help skills

Common Early and Late Symptoms of Dementia in individuals with IDD

Dementia is characterized by memory loss and impairment of mental functioning that. Depression, paranoia, anxiety, confusion, and wandering are symptoms of the illness.

Santa Clara University

Older adults are most commonly are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, insomnia, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and dementia. 

Common Mental Health Conditions in Geriatric Adults

A subcategory of overall health relating to one's emotional well-being by one's ability to successfully overcome everyday stressors, to realize one's inner potential, and to work in a manner that gives back to the self and to their community.

Mental Health

Electroconvulsive Therapy can treat agitation and aggression in people with dementia.  Dementia can be difficult to treat and can negatively impact the quality of life.

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Agitation and aggression in people with dementia

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Psychology and aging: Psychologists make a significant contribution. American Psychological Association. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/pi/aging/resources/guides/psychology-and-aging. 

Psychology and Aging: Psychologists Make a Significant Contribution

Generally speaking, anxiety is a reaction by the body that ensues negative internal experiences such as negative thoughts or feelings. Physical changes may also follow, such as an increase in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, trembling, and so on.

Anxiety

Dementia

Alcohol abuse is responsible for one in eight deaths among older Americans. It is predicted that there will be an increase in illicit drug use and alcohol abuse among the baby boomer cohort as many have showcased addiction to prescription medication in the past.

Substance Abuse in Geriatric People 

Older white Americans have the highest rates of suicide. Two-fifths of older adults who committed suicide visited their primary care physician in the past week and about three-quarters did so in the past month.

Suicide in Geriatric People

Geriatric nurses undergo chronic lack of time, irregular worktime, limiting career growth, disruptive patients and patient families, and stressors from losing patients. Altogether, this leads to anger, anxiety, depression, and frustration.

Common Mental Conditions in Geriatric Nurses

It is a mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances such as legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medication. Symptoms can range from moderate to severe, with addiction being the most powerful form of SUDs.

Substance Use Disorder

Insomnia, the most prevalent sleep disorder, is characterized by a persistent difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep. Individuals with this condition often experience significant delays before falling asleep and may wake up frequently during the night, struggling to resume sleep. According to diagnostic criteria, these sleep disturbances must occur at least three nights a week for a minimum of one month.

Insomnia

Between 10 and 20% of adolescents worldwide experience a mental health problem within a given 12-month period. Mental health problems impact on an adolescent’s potential to live a fulfilling and productive life and lead to challenges such as stigma, isolation and discrimination. 

Adolescent Mental Health

There is a need for global emphasis on more comprehensive mental health promotion and intervention in schools. The SMHILE (School Mental Health International Leadership Exchange) identified 5 critical themes for nations to advance SMH (=school mental health). Doing so, we can accomplish cross-nation collaboration among research and policy leaders from diverse countries and share experiences/lessons to improve SMH.


Comprehensive Mental Health Promotion & Intervention in School

The long-term physical, mental, emotional, and psychological effects of racism.

Weathering

Defines strategies that typically involve health-oriented public policies, an improvement in community action, significant positive changes in regards to creating healthy environments, development of essential personal skills, and the redistribution and improvement of health-related services.

Mental Health Promotion Strategies 

Assessments, treatments, and counseling resources offered in private, public, outpatient and inpatient facilities that focus on serving individuals experiencing mental health crises and issues. 

Mental Health Services

NIMH. (2022). Anxiety Disorders. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders 

Panic Disorder Reference

NIMH. (2022). NIMH. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ 

NIMH

Gender is a determinant of mental health. Different factors different genders face impacting their mental health and lives, social position, status, and treatment in society. Gender differences also occur in the rates of common mental disorders.

Gender and Mental Health

Emotion regulation is the process by which individuals manage their emotional responses to various situations and experiences. This involves altering their emotional experiences and how they are expressed.

Emotional Regulation

While wellbeing does not have a clear and universal definition, people believe that it can be conceptualized in a few ways:

- Positive Construct
- Subjective Construct
- Multi-dimensional Construct

Wellbeing

Shim, R. S., Compton, M. T., Rust, G., Druss, B. G., & Kaslow, N. J. (2009). Race-Ethnicity as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Mental Health Treatment Seeking. Psychiatric Services, 60(10), 1336–1341. https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ps.2009.60.10.1336 

Reference for Predictors in Mental Health Seeking Behaviors

 Societal or internal criticism that shames the desire for professional mental health support and can lead to negative changes in help seeking behaviors.

Mental Health Stigma

Conner, K. O., Copeland, V. C., Grote, N. K., Koeske, G., Rosen, D., Reynolds, C. F., 3rd, & Brown, C. (2010). Mental health treatment seeking among older adults with depression: the impact of stigma and race. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(6), 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181cc0366

Reference for Predictors in Mental Health Seeking Behaviors(Age)

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013, is the primary classification system used by most mental health professionals in the United States to diagnose psychological disorders.

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