Older adult behavioral health problems
If you're not sure what the problem might be, review our list of symptoms to see if any of them sound like you or your loved one.
Common symptoms of senior behavioral health problems
You may have an anxiety disorder if you experience:
- Worry or dread
- Obsessive or intrusive thoughts
- Sense of imminent danger or catastrophe
- Fear or panic
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Impatience
- Ambivalence
- Trouble concentrating
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Sweating, especially the palms
- Dry mouth
- Flushing or blushing
- Muscle tension
- Shortness of breath
- Lightheadedness or faintness
- Difficulty sleeping
- Shaking
- Choking sensation
- Frequent urination
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Feeling of "butterflies" in the stomach
- Tingling sensations
- Nail biting or other habitual behavior
Bipolar Disorder often includes:
- Dramatic mood swings ranging from elated excitability to hopeless despondency
- Extreme changes in energy and behavior
- Periods of highs that include:
- Persistent and inexplicable elevation in mood
- Increased energy and effort toward goal-directed activities
- Restlessness and agitation
- Racing thoughts, jumping from one idea to another
- Rapid speech or pressure to keep talking
- Trouble concentrating
- Decreased need for sleep
- Overconfidence or inflated self-esteem
- Poor judgment, often involving spending sprees and sexual indiscretions
- Periods of lows that include:
- Prolonged sad, hopeless, or empty mood
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
- Decreased energy or fatigue
- Trouble concentrating, remembering, making decisions
- Restlessness or diminished movements, agitation
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Unintended weight loss or gain
- Thoughts of death or suicide with or without suicide attempts
Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are:
- Obsessions – unwanted, repetitive and intrusive ideas, impulses or images
- Compulsions – repetitive behaviors or mental acts usually performed to reduce the distress associated with obsessions
Common obsessions include:
- Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one
- Unreasonable concern with being contaminated
- Unacceptable religious, violent, or sexual thoughts
- Excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly
Common compulsions include:
- Excessive checking of door locks, stoves, water faucets, light switches, etc.
- Repeatedly making lists, counting, arranging, or aligning things
- Collecting and hoarding useless objects
- Repeating routine actions a certain number of times until it feels just right
- Unnecessary re-reading and re-writing
- Mentally repeating phrases
Symptoms of dementia come on gradually. They often begin mildly, but do progress over time.
Symptoms include:
- Increasing trouble remembering things, such as:
- How to get to familiar locations
- The names of friends, family members
- Where common objects are usually kept
- Simple math
- How to perform usual tasks, such as cooking, dressing, bathing, etc.
- How to drive
- Bill-paying
- Trouble concentrating on tasks
- Trouble completing sentences, due to lost/forgotten words. This progresses to complete inability to speak.
- Inability to remember the date, time of day, season
- Getting lost in familiar surroundings
- Mood swings
- Withdrawal, loss of interest in usual activities
- Personality changes
- Slow, shuffling walk
- Poor coordination
- Slowness and then loss of purposeful movement
If you have experienced some kind of trauma, you might experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Symptoms fall into three categories:
- Re-experiencing of the event
- Dreams/nightmares
- Flashbacks
- Anxious reactions to reminders of the event
- Hallucinations
- Avoidance
- Avoiding close emotional contact with family and friends
- Avoiding people or places that are reminders of the event
- Loss of memory about the event
- Feelings of detachment, numbness
- Arousal
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Anger and irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Being easily startled
Physical symptoms may also occur such as:
- Stomach and digestive problems
- Chest pain
- Headaches
- Dizziness
People with PTSD may also abuse alcohol or drugs.
Schizophrenia could be the problem if:
Symptoms usually start in adolescence or early adulthood. They often appear slowly and become more disturbing and bizarre over time.
Symptoms include:
- Hallucinations – seeing or hearing things/voices that are not there
- Delusions – strong but false personal beliefs that are not based in reality
- Disorganized thinking
- Disorganized speech – lack of ability to speak in a way that makes sense or carry on a conversation
- Catatonic behavior – slow movement, repeating rhythmic gestures, pacing, walking in circles
- Emotional flatness – flat speech, lack of facial expression, and general disinterest and withdrawal
- Inappropriate laughter
- Poor hygiene and self-care
Associated conditions include:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Substance abuse (of drugs, caffeine, nicotine)
