Abstract
This case is about a 66-year-old Caucasian woman who was widowed three years prior to starting therapy, after having been a caregiver for a spouse with Alzheimer’s disease. Her presenting concerns involved very negative views and fears about her retirement, which had happened about a year prior to seeking treatment. This situation seemed to be exacerbated by her tendency to devalue herself due to her socioeconomically deprived background earlier in life. Mrs. A. also reported two other problems: (a) intense feelings of distance from her grown children, and (b) worries about her health. She had both hypertension and arthritis, but these were under good medical control. Her worries seemed more focused on what could happen in the future in terms of declining health if she had a stroke, a fall, or some other event that could cause a decrement in her functional ability. She began therapy with a diagnosis of primary major depressive disorder, and after 30 sessions of individual treatment was no longer clinically depressed. She maintained these gains consistently over a two-year follow-up period with no relapses, despite additional life Stressors during that time (e.g., family emergencies).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (rev. 3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.
Burns, D. (1989). The feeling good handbook: Using the new mood therapy in everyday life. New York: William Morrow.
Cavanaugh, J. C. (1990). Adult development and aging. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Endicott, J., & Spitzer, R. (1978). A diagnostic interview for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 837–844.
Fitten, L. J., Morley, J., Gross, P., Petry, S., & Cole, K. (1989). Depression: UCLA geriatric grand rounds. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 37, 459–472.
Gallagher, D., Rose, J., Rivera, P., Lovett, S., & Thompson, L. W. (1989). Prevalence of depression in family caregivers. Gerontologist, 29, 449–456.
Lund, D. (Ed.). (1989). Older bereaved spouses: Research with practical applications. New York: Hemisphere.
Parkes, C. M. (1987). Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Spitzer, R., & Endicott, J. (1977). The SADS-Change Interview. New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Thompson, L. W., Davies, R., Gallagher, D., & Krantz, S. (1986). Cognitive therapy with older adults. Clinical Gerontologist, 5, 245–279.
Thompson, L. W., Florsheim, M., DelMaestro, S., Gantz, F., Gallagher-Thompson, D., and Bryan, H. (1991). Cognitive/ behavioral therapy for affective disorders in the elderly. In W. Myers (Ed.), New techniques in the psychotherapy of older patients (pp. 3–19). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.
Young, J. E. (1990). Cognitive therapy for personality disorders: A schema-focused approach. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Exchange.
Zarit, S., Reever, K., & Bach-Peterson, J. (1980). Relatives of the impaired elderly: Correlates of feelings of burden. The Gerontologist, 20, 649–655.
Suggested Readings
Blazer, D. (1990). Emotional problems in later life: Intervention strategies for professional caregivers. New York: Springer.
Brink, T. L. (Ed.). (1986). Clinical gerontology: A guide to assessment and intervention. New York: Haworth.
Burns, D. (1989). The feeling good handbook: Using the new mood therapy in everyday life. New York: William Morrow.
Fry, P S. (1986). Depression, stress, and adaptations in the elderly: Psychological assessment and intervention. Rockville, MD: Aspen.
Mace, N. L., & Rabins, P. V. (1991). The 36-hour day: A family guide to caring for persons with Alzheimer’s disease, related dementing illnesses, and memory loss in later life (rev. ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gallagher-Thompson, D., Thompson, L.W. (1992). The Older Adult. In: Freeman, A., Dattilio, F.M. (eds) Comprehensive Casebook of Cognitive Therapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9777-0_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9777-0_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44070-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9777-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive