earch and medications that are being tested out on patients. Many depressed patients will not go and get help. “Pharmacotherapy is the most common treatment in primary care response rates between 50% and 60%, and is often used in addition to supportive counseling.” (Doris, et al., 1999) More treatments that can be used are Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), Repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and many alternative physical therapies. Electro-convulsive therapy is used in severe, life-threatening depressive illnesses. This is usually used after pharmacotherapy has failed. Repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation is an experimental treatment for depression. Although there are not many studies involving this treatment, patients either have treatment-resistant depression or have less severe disorders. (Doris, et al., 1999).The age of late adulthood rages from the age of sixty and above. For some elderly people, life after retirement can be great. Yet for some, it can be the worse time of their life. “Work has always been a central concern in their lives, symbolizing their identities and providing them with self-esteem.” (Kavanaugh, 1997). The changes that occur to their body and mind can change how they choose to live the rest of their life. In Erick Erickson’s psychosocial dilemmas, late adulthood deals with integrity versus despair. This is defined as “a conflict in old age between feelings of personal integrity and the despair that occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret” (Coon, 2001). When thinking back about their lives, they should feel good and when they start to think about the failure in their life is when they have feelings of depression because they know it is too late to change anything. “Old age deepens our understanding- not only of ourselves, but of aspects of life we may have avoided” ( Matousek, 1999).Depression can occ...
