Depression can be affected by everyone, especially the elderly, whose suicidal behavior is 6 times more likely than in young people.

Bill Takahashi is a lover of orchids. But a year ago, even his favorite flowers could not help the 83-year-old man avoid depression. It was necessary to his wife and daughter to send Bill to the psychiatrist of the University of California in Los Angeles Helen Lavretsky. Traditionally, antidepressants have been used to treat depression, but a significant relief when using them was only a month later. Dr. Lavretsky started using a new medicine Ritalin in small doses. After a couple of days of treatment, Bill Takahashi felt better.

As a result of observations of 21 patients, it was concluded that Ritalin in combination with antidepressants contributes to a more pronounced effect of the latter, which occurs much faster, in contrast to cases of isolated antidepressant medication. Because of the high suicide rate among the elderly, it is important that they receive more effective care, in terms of the speed of the onset of action of drugs, Dr says.. Lavretsky medicus. en.