Physical Illness and Depression in Older Adults

Aging is inevitable-A "e;psychological recession"e; is not . . . As I go about my daily life, I read and hear about the sometimes scary things that are happening to other people. As the saying goes, bad news sells newspapers. But I u- ally can take some solace in reasoning that this bad stuff assuredly will not occur in my life. After reading this book, however, one message has gotten through-I cannot d- miss "e;those"e; older people described in the various chapters as being dissimilar to me. After all, "e;old person"e; is a term that can be applied to me in a few more years. On this point, I once heard the following rhetorical question applied to the prejudice actions of the TV character Archie Bunker: "e;What would he say about "e;those"e; Puerto Ricans, if, on his next birthday, he knew that he would become a Puerto Rican?"e; As to aging, we best pay close attention because we soon will be "e;those"e; elders. This is why the alarming facts of this book-that our elders often are experiencing elevatedlevelsofphysicalillnessesanddepression-grabbedmebytheproverbialthroat.