aspires to provide an up-to-date, evidence-based review of all aspects of this subject. Standing at 790 pages in length, it is not for the faint-hearted. It is text heavy, with minimal use of pictures, diagrams and tables to break up the script. On first glance it appears overwhelming and inaccessible. However, its 43 chapters are well structured, making it a book that can be dipped into for oc...

Data from the 1992 wave of the Health and Retirement Study are used to examine the incidence of job displacement among workers ages 51 through 60. The average displaced worker experiences a loss in earnings of 39%. Households which contain a displaced worker have incomes 24% lower than the household of an average worker. Little of these lost earnings are replaced through pension income. The rat...

Suicide rates for older people are increasing worldwide, thereby creating a major public health concern. There has been an absence of public policy and research interest in this area, although the needs are pressing and promise to be even more so. Besides the fact that a worldwide aging population means more older people, and thus more late-life suicides, the percentage of older people who kill...

Despite its prevalence and seriousness, depression in late life remains underappreciated as a source of disability and suffering for older people and their families. Despite a solid and substantial body of research, recognition of depression remains problematic and is often attributed to normal developmental changes in aging. Treatment efficacy data notwithstanding, the adequacy and appropriate...

Mania in late life is a serious disorder that demands specialist assessment and management. However, it is greatly under-researched, with only a paucity of studies specifically analysing older populations. The mainstay of the old age psychiatry workload will inevitably be concerned with assessing and managing dementia and depression, but the steady rise in the aging population with longer survi...