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Growing old and depression
Depression in late adulthood
Depression in late adulthood
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Many people are able to maintain their mind and healthy behavior; however, as they grow older, sometimes their behavior start to change in many different ways such as being spoiled, selfish, depressed, regretful, guilt, and many more as they grow older into their senior age. This research will be informing how adult’s behavior changes as they grow older. As adult ages, their behavior changes from mature behavior to gradually decreased responsiveness to incapacitation while it is impossible to stop one from aging, there are ways to keep a mind healthy and stable and help one keep their memories longer.
Human behavior changes mature behavior to gradually decreased responsiveness and incapacitation. According to “Invitation to Life Span,” Berger states, “Like every other part of the body, the brain slows down with age… the total size of the brain decreases” (Berger, 2010, p.435). Berger mentions several ways in which aging brains slow down. Difficulty with multitasking is one of the indications of an aging brain. When people age, multitasking is becomes more difficult for them in two ways: they are unable to focus on multiple objectives and distractions become more difficult to ignore. For example, an aging brain is able to focuses only on driving instead of talking to the passenger at the same time, and is able to read a book, but would be distracted by music. Lack of sleep is another cause for slowing of the brain’s thinking process especially, for short term memory. For example, if a person is not able to sleep all night because he/she has to study for their exams, this person, when ready to take the test, will not retain the memory of what his/her was studying. Therefore, the person’s brain is gradually losing long-term memory b...
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...ional Forum (Vol.78, no.2), 34-37 Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com
Chung-Yi Li, Shwu Chong Wu and Shi Wu Wen. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 57, No. 8 (Aug., 2000), pp. 550-554. Longest Held Occupation in a Lifetime and Risk of Disability in Activities of Daily Living. Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.librus.hccs.edu/stable/27731369 Dementia – Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Tests, Treatment, Care. Retrieved from https://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp
Kathleen Stassen Berger. Invitation to the Life Span. Bronx Community College, CUNY. First Edition ©2010.
Melinda Smith, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, and Robert Segal, M.A. Last updated: November 2013. Age-Related Memory Loss. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/life/prevent_memory_loss.htm
Strock, M. (1992). Alzheimer's disease: Mental Health/Mental illness Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com
Aging and old age for a long time presented as dominated by negative traits and states such as sickness, depression and isolation. The aging process is not simply senescence most people over the age of 65 are not Senile, bedridden, isolated, or suicidal (Aldwin & Levenson, 1994). This change in perspective led the investigation of the other side of the coin. Ageing is seen as health, maturity and personal Royal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generatively, coping and acceptance of age-related constraints (Birren & Fisher, 1995). Psychological und...
Aging is a natural part of human life. With modern technologies and medical innovations, the society has been able to prolong life and thus increase the number of older adults in the society. Normal part of aging are inevitable physiological and psychological changes, which need to be understood and addressed by nurses in order to provide appropriate care for older adults. Presenting patient’s description with appropriate data, I will utilize Watson’s Caring theory (2008) to assess the lower order need of activity-inactivity relative to this older adult patient cared for in the hospitalized environment. The integration of theory, research and best practice guidelines will be used to plan nursing interventions and strategies to meet the health needs of older adults in health care. Watson’s (2008) fourth caritas process of developing and sustaining a helping-trusting caring relationship will be used to describe the nursing implementations which were utilized in providing safe and competent care for older adult.
An individual’s personality and character structure portrays a major reflection of how they age. Personality style and character structure both incorporate the conscious and unconscious motivational, cognitive and affective mental states, as well as defense mechanisms (Silver 1992). Biopsychosocial factors-broken down into biological, psychological, and sociocultural-also play a huge role in personality and aging (Notes 10/08). Some examples of biological factors are health, genetics, and physiological function. Thoughts, feelings, and emotions would be considered psychological factors. Sociocultural factors include family, religion and community. Additionally, people endure unique experiences and circumstances throughout their life course,
As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.
Throughout this line of study, Alzheimer’s disease is a specific form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that is severe enough to hinder daily life. Memory loss is a symptom of dementia and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s. One of the most common and severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. The changes of Alzheimer’s normally begin in the part of the brain that affects learning (Overview Alzheimer's Association). Some other symptoms of Alzheimer’s include gradual memory loss, the decline in capability to carry out everyday tasks and the loss of their language skills. According to Bialystok the rate of decline in cognitive functioning was significant in the Alzheimer’s disease group compared to Mild Cognitive Impairment during the study of bilingualism and how it is associated with a substantial delay in the onset of (AD) and (MCI) (Bialystok, 2014). Disorientation, mood and behavior changes, some confusion about past events are some severe symptoms. As Alzheimer’s worsens over time, the ability to get dressed or turn off the stove, are some examples of possible decline in ability to perform everyday tasks. Those who suffer with Alzheimer’s disease, could be forgetting to do things that they were supposed to do such as babysitting the children or how to get back home (V. Hill, Personal Communication, March 2014). Disorientation is another one of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, which is having difficulty knowing the date, or what year they are in, or the location they are at. Alzheimer’s has no current cure, and it is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years...
Late adulthood should be a time in a person's life where they feel fulfilled. They can look back on their memories and be happy with the way they have lived their life. Now, too many elderly people are not satisfied and look at this stage as depressing. Most fear death of either a loved one or for themselves. This topic is interesting to me because elderly people should make the best of their last stage of life. This topic discusses about getting older, the life changes that they go through physically, emotionally, and mentally. We should know more about it so that we can help our family and friends get through one of the best, yet toughest part of our mortal life.
Introduction This assignment critically discusses dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementia are elaborated with descriptions of dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discuss actions nurses should take while evaluating patients and treating them.
Ageing is a continuing life cycle, it is an ongoing developmental event that brings certain changes in one’s own psychological and physical state. It is a time in one's own life where an elderly individual reminisce and reflect, to bask and live on previous accomplishments and begin to finish his life cycle. There is a significant amount of adjusting that requires an elderly individual to be flexible and develop new coping skills to adapt in the changes that are common in their new life. (Dhara & Jogsan, 2013).
Developmental health psychologists - specialists who study the interaction of age, behavior, and health and gerontologists - specialists in the science of aging -- are piecing together the details of diet, exercise, personality and behavior that make it practical to shoot for 80, or even 120. People approaching middle age can expect a bonus of several years of extra living thanks to continuing medical progress against cancer, heart disease and stroke. Specialists in the field of aging, developmental health psychologists, and gerontologist , concentrate their area of study on determining health status over the course of adulthood, and determining the nature and origin of age-related diseases. They are also concerned with describing the effects of health on behavior and describing the effects of behavior on health. The goals of these specialists are: prevention of diseases, preservation of health, and improved quality of health for those suffering from disability and disease.
Hartman-Stein, Paula E., Potkanowicz, Edward S. (2009). Behavioral determinants of healthy aging: Good news for the baby boomer generation. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 8(2).
Knapton, S 2014, ‘Brains of elderly slow because they know so much’ Telegraph Media Group, published in the Journal of Topics in Cognitive Science, viewed on the 22nd of march 2014
The present paper illustrates my reflections regarding the article “Memory and Aging: Selected Research Directions and Application Issues”, the third lecture “Psychosocial Issues”, and our class discussion. All of them brought up important issues regarding the psychological health of older adults, however, one theme was common across them: the role of social interaction on cognition and emotion.
Some people belief that when they are old, their cognition will decrease, especially in decision-making and learning new things. On the contrary, older people have a wise brain and perfect skill because different skill of Cognition which is the process of knowing and understanding (longman dictionary) will peak at different time, some is soon while some take a longer time. Besides as people are ageing they have more experience as well as more knowledge to increase their ability to learn, that why we have a sayings like” the older, the wiser”. Furthermore, our brain is working as the same as our skin or body if only they take care of their brain in the right way they can keep their brains sharp for a certain extra time.On the other hand, people
There is significant longitudinal evidence that behavioral characteristics that can be seen in late childhood persists into adulthood. These behavioral characteristics have also been seen to persist for large stretch of adult life as well (Caspi, Harrington, Milne, Amell, Theodore, and Moffitt, 2003). Quite contested, though of significant importance, is the notion that criminal propensity is amongst the behavioral characteristics that develop in childhood and persist to adulthood (Wright, Tibbetts, and Daigle, 2008).
As a person grows old, it is inevitable to have both physical and cognitive changes happen throughout their lifetime. In an average life span, a person’s physical and cognitive changes will normally vary depending on what age group they are in. For example, it is said that from birth to age five, a child will absorb more information including how to talk, language, form relationships, and fine motor skills than any other age. It is also said that that most rapid decline in physical ability is in older adults ranging from a loss in eyesight to severe dementia.