Mental health of the aged in the depopulated areas of Japan.

Abstract

Over the past 20 years from 1961, we have been conducting research on the relation between the mental and physical state of old people and the depopulation process in the mountain areas of Japan. People over 65 years old have been studied annually, with the use of Hasegawa's method and Amako's scale of grading age and Zung's depression scale mentally. For their physical checkup, ECG and blood pressure, etc. were taken. In the early stages of our study, a significant difference was observed between the people in the depopulated areas and those living in the plains. However, we have been unable to find significant differences of the occurrence of senile dementia between these two areas since 1977, nor of the physical state of the elderly since 1981. We did observe more people with a higher level of Zung's depression scale in the depopulated areas in 1984. Since Japan's economic growth slowed down by the two oil shocks has never revitalized the depopulated areas, the old people are still left alone in the mountain areas. However, they now regularly receive good meal services by local welfare committees. Supermarkets have also appeared in some villages, so that the aged have easier access to nutritious food such as meats, fruits and milk. Still, we find bedridden elderly patients more often in these depopulated areas, as well as a statistically greater incidence of suicides (r = -0.42, p less than 0.01). It is our fervent desire that more psychological support should be given to the aged in the depopulated areas, such as visits to their homes by public nurses, or more frequent phone-calls by volunteers.