Older people are suffering a mental health crisis, experts have said.
More than 3.5 million older people in the UK who experience mental health problems do not have enough support or adequate services, according to a new report.
Problems in mental health are far more widespread than people think, it said.
Up to 2.6 million older people - one in four of those over 65 and two in five of those over 85 - are suffering depression or serious symptoms of depression. Meanwhile, one in five people over 80 suffer from dementia.
The report, from the UK Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life, involved experts from the London School of Economics, Royal College of Nursing and Age Concern.
The study condemned age discrimination in treating older people, who can suffer from a lack of independence, loneliness and long-term illness.
It made 35 recommendations for ways to improve mental health services, including challenging stigma, ageism and defeatism, working on preventing problems, and tackling ignorance.
Other recommendations included improving housing, health and social care services, and calling on the Government to overturn "years of under-funding" in older people's mental health.
The study warned that the current situation will only get worse in the future.
It predicts that 3.5 million older people will have symptoms of depression and almost a million will have dementia by 2021, unless there are effective interventions.
