It’s a Sunday afternoon at the local retirement home. Five friends are gathered around a card table for an intense game of bingo, but this is not just any game—it’s Feel Good Bingo® and these seniors are discussing the sensitive topic of mental illness.
Asking an older adult about their mental health is an uncomfortable conversation, but according to the Centers for Disease Control it’s a conversation worth having. An estimated 9% of adult Americans meet the criteria for clinical depression. Researchers say some of these depression cases may be attributed to physical health problems that often occur later in life such as arthritis, obesity, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes.
But it’s not just physical health problems that cause depression. Seniors make up 12.4% of the U.S. population, yet they account almost a fifth of all suicides. Although most people who are depressed do not die by suicide, untreated depression can increase the risk of suicide. According to the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine Report (May, 2010), seniors who move into residential homes can be at risk for suicide, but facilities are often not properly equipped to respond to these sensitive mental health needs.
“The real sadness is that so many seniors know very little about depression, even accepting it as a fact of life when getting older,” says Douglas G. Jacobs, M.D., associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and founder and president of Screening for Mental Health® (SMH). “It’s when they don’t view depression as a genuine health concern that we run into problems.”
Feel Good Bingo helps seniors start the conversation about the signs and symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a comfortable, social environment. Instead of letters and numbers, each player’s game card contains various icons depicting common symptoms of depression and GAD.
Promoting mental health literacy through a classic, well-known and fun game is what makes Feel Good Bingo a “great way to communicate signs and symptoms of depression without a lecture,” says Cherylene Pope, SOS case manager, Four County Mental Health, in Independence, Kansas.
“We regularly offer Feel Good Bingo as part of our Maintaining Healthy Minds services for older adults and the average age of participants is 70 to 75,” says Vicki DeVault, social worker and education coordinator, geriatrics department at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, TX. “Almost every time we play there is at least some discussion and one or two people will approach me afterward to chat more. Overall, I think it is a good tool for education purposes and is very non-threatening.”
Traditional in-person and online depression screenings offered by SMH are available, but often the stigma surrounding depression prevents seniors from taking advantage of these resources. For more information, or to order the Feel Good Bingo kit, please download the registration brochure by visiting the SMH website
or contact Sara Herman directly at 781-591-5233 or [email protected]