WE’VE all known a grumpy old man or two. Maybe he was the guy down the street who chased you off his lawn when you were a kid. Hollywood turned grumpy old men into comic icons in two movies starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. While we sometimes laugh off the chronic crabbiness of an older friend, we’re just as likely to dismiss it as an unfortunate, but inevitable, part of getting old.
Sometimes, though, geriatric grouchiness may be a sign of a serious problem: depression, which afflicts about 15% of older Americans. But mental health experts say that depression among the elderly needn’t be so common because it is not a normal – or inevitable – part of ageing. For most seniors, it can be successfully treated using a wide range of therapies.
