An independent panel in the UK has found that when it comes to mental health services, many elderly people face discrimination.
The report, 'Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life', found that services for older people with mental health problems are inadequate.
As more than 3.5 million older people have mental health problems the problem is clearly widespread and is, say the panel, the result of under-funding and age discrimination in mental health services.
The report found that direct age discrimination, such as age barriers to accessing services, can have a devastating effect on people's mental health with ageist attitudes also to blame, leading people to assume, wrongly, that it is inevitable older people will be depressed, or that little can be done to help those diagnosed with dementia.
Such factors they say prevent people obtaining support and treatment.
The report reveals the extent of illnesses to be expected by 2021, when one in 15 Britons will be an older person suffering a mental health problem.
According to the panel report, up to one in four people over 65 and two in five people over 85 are suffering depression or serious symptoms of depression and one in five people over 80 suffers from dementia; there are also higher rates of suicide in people over the age of 75.
Dr. June Crown chair of the inquiry, says mental health problems in later life were often preventable and treatable, yet older people with mental health problems are often ignored and receive little support.
It was found that two-thirds of older people with depression never discuss it with their GPs, and of the third that do, only half are diagnosed and treated.
The inquiry found that some doctors believe depression is simply a symptom of growing older.