老年憂鬱的懷舊治療

Reminiscence Therapy for Late-Life Depression

老年憂鬱（Late Life Depression）是一種惡性疾病，不僅會加速身心退化、導致不良的醫療預後，還顯著提高自殺風險和死亡率。此外，也可能引發過度概化記憶（Over-GeneralMemory）的現象，使記憶提取侷限於表面且空泛的訊息，難以真實重現過往經驗。這種情況可能影響老年人對過去經歷、事件及人際關係的回憶，進一步削弱其對自身過去的認同感，忽視社交互動與親友的關懷。當面對困難時，這種記憶特性也會妨礙情緒調節，導致老年人更畏避於參與社交活動，進一步加重憂鬱感受。結合懷舊治療與自傳式記憶相關的記憶特定性訓練，期望提升老年人對記憶的具體性，幫助他們更精確、詳細回憶過去事件，減少對模糊記憶的依賴。這種方法能逐步協助老年人回溯過往經歷，處理未解決的衝突，並通過回顧過去的正向與負向經驗，緩解當前的憂鬱情緒。強化對人生不同階段記憶的整合，有助於增強老年人面對社會壓力的抗壓能力，提升獨立思考與自信心，進而在生命的最後階段體驗完整與意義感。

Late-life depression is a serious condition that not only accelerates physical and mental decline, leading to poor medical outcomes, but also significantly increases the risk of suicide and mortality. Additionally, it may induce overgeneralized memory, which restricts memory retrieval to superficial and vague information, making it challenging to vividly reconstruct past experiences. This phenomenon can hinder older adults' ability to recall their past experiences, events, and relationships, further diminishing their sense of identity rooted in their personal history. It may also result in neglect of social interactions and care from loved ones. When faced with challenges, this memory characteristic impairs emotional regulation, causing older adults to withdraw further from social activities and exacerbating depressive feelings. By combining reminiscence therapy with memory specificity training related to autobiographical memory, there is potential to enhance the specificity of older adults' memories, helping them recall past events more precisely and in greater detail while reducing reliance on vague recollections. This approach can gradually assist older individuals in revisiting their past experiences, resolving unresolved conflicts, and alleviating current depressive symptoms by reflecting on both positive and negative experiences. Strengthening the integration of memories from different life stages helps older adults build resilience to social pressures, boosts their capacity for independent thought and self-confidence, and ultimately enables them to experience a sense of wholeness and meaning in the final stages of life.