Mental Illness and the Elderly

I confess that I don't really know that much about this topic, but I was having lunch with a good friend today that is dealing with multiple health issues with her elderly parents, and so it's on my mind. Certainly I know that many elderly suffer from depression. I suspect that there are also many elderly folks out there who were just never diagnosed with a mental illness when they were younger, but they suffer from one nevertheless. I suppose if they made it to old age with an undiagnosed mental illness that's a feat in itself.

What about some of the other afflictions of the elderly? Dementia, senility, Alzheimer's...  They are brain disorders, but do they constitute a mental illness? Are they spelled out in the DSM-IV (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)? After a very quick perusal of this page, it doesn't look like it. I'm really kind of rambling here, and I am NOT an expert of any kind, but I do find it interesting. Some of the difficulties that my friend is facing seem similar to difficulties people face in dealing with mental illness, and in fact, she herself is suffering from a high level of stress and anxiety.

Anyway, these are some of the random things I was thinking about after my lunch with her today. We did go visit University C last Saturday, and I'll post an update soon, but I have a feeling the news is positive on this front.

Rambling,