'Golden Years' Aren't Always The Happiest: Here's Why

That time of life following retirement, otherwise known as the "golden years," is typically referred to as some of the happiest days of life. Yet researchers at the University of Bradford have found that this isn't quite the case for many 65 and up. In fact, the findings suggest that some are more depressed as they settle into old age.

Though previous studies have shown increased levels of depression as the years climb, they have only been until the age of 85, researchers say.

This recent study is based on a 15-year project that observed over 2,000 older Australians living in the Adelaide area. In the beginning, women reported increasingly more depressive symptoms than men. However, with time, men caught up to the female participants--showing a faster rate of increasing symptoms so that by the age of 80, the symptoms in genders had reversed.

Much of the increase could be pegged to increases in levels of physical impairment, including the onset of chronic medical issues and dealing with thoughts of mortality. In particular, half of those in the study dealt with arthritis--while both men and women in the study with the chronic condition reported more depressive symptoms than those without the condition.

"These findings are very significant and have implications for how we deal with old age," said psychology lecturer Dr Helena Chui, in a news release. "It's the first study to tell us depressive symptoms continue to increase throughout old age. We are in a period of unprecedented success in terms of people living longer than ever and in greater numbers and we should be celebrating this but it seems that we are finding it hard to cope."

The study is published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

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