Psychiatric disability will compound aging for many adults, Bernstein says.(White House Conference on Aging)(Brief Article)

Report on Disability Law, February, 2005

Many older adults face the multiple challenges of psychiatric disability, age-related health issues and their marginalized social status as "former mental patients," Robert Bernstein, executive director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, told a policy committee of the White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) last month.

These older adults have persistent, so-called "serious" mental illnesses and are aging as the longstanding clients of public systems, he said.

Another group is older adults with later-onset mental illnesses, whose issues of depression and anxiety are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Among each of these subpopulations, a substantial number of individuals have co-existing problems of medication or alcohol abuse, Bernstein...

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