[Depression in Old Age--Challenge of an Ageing Society]

Besides dementia, depressive disorders belong to the most common mental disorders in the elderly. Along with the demographic change and the associated increasing proportion of older people aged 65 and more they become a central and urgent challenge. Depressive disorders in old age are treatable, although they involve special features when compared to younger adults. Guidelines are considered to be of great importance in the optimization of treatments. But how will the treatment of depressive disorders in the elderly displayed in the current guidelines? A systematic search for treatment recommendations in current evidence- and consensus-based guidelines regarding psychotherapeutic and psychosocial treatment approaches indicates that this highly relevant patient group has been strongly neglected so far.