Managing Depression Growing Older: A Guide for Professionals and Carers

Kerrie Eyers, Gordon Parker and Henry Brodaty
Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest (2012)
292 pp., A$27.99
ISBN: 978-1074237-880-0

Managing Depression Growing Older: A Guide for Professionals and Carers is authored by Kerrie Eyers, a psychologist, teacher and editor with many years of experience in mental health, based at the Black Dog Institute, Sydney; Gordon Parker, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales and a researcher with over 30 years of experience with mood disorders; and Henry Brodaty, Professor of Ageing and Mental Health at the University of New South Wales and an authority on ageing and dementia. This book comes at a time when it is becoming increasingly accepted that depression is not a normal part of ageing. It offers moving stories from older people, their children and others who care for them on how depression impacts on people over 60. The authors have skilfully interwoven these accounts with the insights and experiences of world-ranking psychogeriatricians, geriatricians and other clinicians in the field. The authors clearly explain a raft of critically important issues including assessment for depression, melancholic and non-melancholic depression, late-onset depression, therapies and caring for the carers. The book offers guidance for supporting older people with depression at home and in residential aged care settings. The great strength of this book is its use of honest and revealing personal stories about older people and depression to illustrate the advice, knowledge and wisdom offered by the contributors. It also makes very effective use of graphics depicting ‘black dog and older people’ and quotes by famous people about ageing. The book is engaging throughout. It is suitably pitched for professionals working with older people and lay people alike and I believe it is essential reading for both.

Karen Teshuva
Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing
Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing
La Trobe University
Melbourne