A new report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information has concluded that the rising number of senior citizens living in residential care homes is an important matter and must be considered soon.

The institute gathered information on nearly 50,000 seniors living in nursing homes and other similar accommodations. They observed nearly 45% showing depression symptoms.

Around 26% reported to have undergone clinical diagnosis and another 18% depicted symptoms of depression no records of diagnosis. This has been reported on the basis of data collected from 550 facilities in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. All these facilities take part in a database titled as “Continuing Care Reporting System”.

Marie-France Rivard, a Psychiatrist in Ottawa who has been exclusively treating the elderly people, shared that this depression in them often remains under diagnosed.

"This is really important to bring to everybody's attention, particularly that depression is a very treatable illness”, said Rivard.

According to the mental health experts, the unwillingness in the elderly people in sharing the depression problems is the biggest obstruction in the recognition of the conditions. Another notion the oldies carry is that old age is home to depression, is a contributing factor, here.

Rivard clarified that depressive symptoms do not have any natural connections with growing age.