I did not have to look very far for a real-world problem that psychology can address. I had to look no further than my own family to see the problem of depression. For example, my maternal grandmother has high blood pressure, has had two heart valves replaced, in addition to back problems. Although she is still able to live alone, both of her children live at least four hours away. Often she exclaims “I just don’t feel good” or “I don’t feel like going anywhere”. It doesn’t take much to wonder if she is lonely or if she is feeling socially isolated. This lack of willingness to do anything, at times, actually makes her feel worse physically. On the other side of my family, my paternal grandfather, age 79, is in fairly good health. Fortunately, …show more content…
he and his wife are able to drive their fifth-wheel camper from Kentucky to Gulf Shores, AL to spend five months of winter in the state park there. His time there is spent with other retired couples enjoying a host of daily activities such as potluck dinners, group bike rides, and evening dinners. However, it is interesting to note that upon his return to rural Kentucky, where life consists of little social interaction, it takes less than two weeks before he is in the doctor’s office complaining of some ailment. The behavior of my grandparents seems to be fairly common. It’s hard to say whether physical health problems lead to social isolation and loneliness, or whether the loneliness leads to health problems. It actually seems like it may be a cycle. Regardless, I believe that if loneliness and social isolation could be lessened, then the health status and quality of life in the elderly could be improved. In a study, “Loneliness and the health of Older People”, Launaigh and Lawlor discuss loneliness and depression in the elderly and how it relates to their health status. Launaigh and Lawlor define loneliness as an “emotional state that is related to the perception of unfulfilled intimate and social needs” (1213). Furthermore, they portray two types of loneliness: emotional loneliness and social loneliness. Social loneliness is caused by the lack of social interactions and relative isolation of a person. In contrast, emotional loneliness is when someone does not have a reliable attachment figure. A reliable attachment can be described as a spouse or it can be someone with whom you are very close with, a best friend. Based on the definitions for the two types of loneliness, I speculate that my grandmother would fall under the category of emotional loneliness because she is no longer married, and both of her children do not live close enough to spend significant time with her. However, on the other side of the spectrum, my grandfather from Kentucky has a reliable attachment figure, his wife, but most likely suffers from social loneliness due to the absence of the daily social activities in Gulf Shores. According to Anne Hawthorne in her article, “The Impact of Social Isolation on the Health Status and Health-related Quality of Life Of Older People,” social isolation, “the absence of contact with other people,” influences the health and well-being of the elderly (57).
Likewise, Launaigh and Lawlor state that their study indicates that “loneliness appears to be a risk factor for poor physical health (1218). Increased depression, blood pressure, poor sleep and cognitive decline have all been connected to loneliness. As a result, Launaigh and Lawlor suggest that “further research should be focused on possible interventions against loneliness”(1219). As a supporter in this research, I have witnessed that my grandparents seem to feel better physical when they are engaged in social activities and communicating with others. I feel that many other elderly would benefit from such interventions against the …show more content…
loneliness. In an attempt to help my grandparents, and all elderly people, I am proposing a solution to help reduce any depression due to loneliness. The overall goal is to reduce loneliness in the elderly within a community. However, depression is not something that can be solved instantly, and depression is different for each person. My solution to reduce loneliness involves setting up a program in which volunteers visit selected elderly people on a consistent schedule. Initially, I would find elderly participants by visiting doctors offices, relying on the doctors to identify those patients who are at risk for loneliness. The elderly patients would be given information from the doctor about the program and the option to participate in a program which will provide them with a volunteer companion. Volunteers would be the driving force for how successful the program would be at decreasing loneliness.
I would find volunteers of all ages: high school student, college students, and adults because the age of the volunteer would depend on the needs of each individual elderly person. For example, one person might do better with a high school than an adult companion. Regardless, each volunteer would need to commit to at least one day a week to a particular elderly person in order to establish a relationship together. Furthermore, I think it would work best if each volunteer devoted several months or more to their assigned person. It is this relationship and consistency which will help fill the void of any kind of loneliness. The volunteers could do numerous activities with their assigned elderly, such as simple conversations, going on walks or outing, playing games or anything that both people wanted to do to provide social
interactions. The initial $5000 would be spent to buy things such as games, books, or for a special outing. I would also make brochures or advertisements for doctors offices to advertise the program. There would be no paid personnel, all people associated with this program would be volunteer-based. This program might take a while to get started. However, I see that if some lonely elderly people and volunteers give it a shot, they could form a good healthy relationship with each other. A win-win situation for all.
The Great Depression was the biggest and longest lasting economic crisis in U.S history. The Great depression hit the united states on October 29, 1929 When the stock market crashed. During 1929, everyone was putting in mass amounts of their income into the stock market. For every ten dollars made, Four dollars was invested into the stock market, thats forty percent of the individual's income (American Experience).
Weize Tan History 7B 3/09/14. Chapter 23 1. What is the difference between a. and a. What were some of the causes of the Great Depression? What made it so severe, and why did it last so long? a.
Russell (1978), (http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jedp/article/download/46795/25238) established the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness scale, which has been widely employed to this day, and performed a theoretical factor analysis for loneliness. His research and results attracted broad attention around the world. Loneliness can be studied by three approaches: the cognitive process approach, the human needs approach and the behavioral approach. The cognitive process approach emphasizes an individual’s mental awareness and assesses his or her social
Cecchetti, Stephen G. "Understanding the Great Depression: Lessons for Current Policy ." Monetary Economics (1997): 1-26.
The occurrence of the Great Depression was an inevitable economic disaster that was caused by a variety of reasons and events that happened in the U.S. and across the world. The lack of diversification was one of the main causes of the Great Depression as the dependence on only certain industries like the automobile industry began years before; and because of the prolonged success of such industries, their demise could not have been predicted. World War I was an event that had a major impact on the Great Depression because of the complexity of the international debt owed to the U.S, and the decline of international trade. In addition, the failure of the bank system and the reckless investments that banks, businesses and the American public made contributed to the manifestation of the Great Depression.
To the nations rescue, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected and provided many alternative solutions for the repair of America. Roosevelt supplied hundreds of thousands with jobs. He also had acts passed that saved banks and found solutions to protect American jobs. The beginning of World War II marked the ultimate end of the depression.
Many adolescents, In the Great Depression, received the full affects and suffered. Some were left hungry, impoverished, and hopeless, how are adolescents today compared? The 30’s were a time of great distress for many Americans. Events such as the stock market crash, an economy suffering from being inflated, overuse of credit, a farming crisis, and other events led America to the economic downfall known as the Great Depression. During the great depression, the unemployment was high, the wages were low, lines stretched around the city for food, families that lost their house had to live in makeshift homes in communities called hoovervilles, and children had to stop school to work for money. Teens effected by the Great Depression worked hard for low wages to try to put food on their family’s table. Today, teens are gluttonous and live a very care free life style with financial stability of their families. As you can see adolescents in the Great Depression differ much from today.
Several studies also asserted that loneliness is correlated with aging itself (Tijhuis et al, 1999; Victor et al, 2000) and that there was a gradual increase in loneliness up to the age of 90 (Holmen, 1992). This increasing trend can be attributed to interactions with other factors due to additive nature of risk factors for loneliness and social isolation (Victor et al, 2000).
There were many events that led to the Great Depression. Every event affected the people worse and worse over time. The Great Depression started in the early 1930’s during Hoover’s presidency. However, before the Great Depression life was great, there were many new technologies that made life more advanced. Nobody expected such a horrible event to occur during the time of the “Roaring 20’S.”
The Great Depression was triggered after the stock market crashed in 1929. It was a period of downfall in the economy. This had a great effect on workers, unemployed, and minorities. The amount of unemployed workers increased dramatically. Along with many unemployed workers, it came with 2 long term causes: Many countries were in great debt because of the outcome of World War 1 and banks failed. Hoover got elected because believed in rugged individualism (people are responsible for their successes and failures) and voluntary cooperation (businesses and workers should work together to solve depression). His way of handling the depression was through a wait and see approach. FRD beat Hoover for presidency in 1932. He created programs and
The Great Depression was the longest lasting economic downturn; lasting from 1929-1939. Not long after the stock market crash of October 1929 the Great Depression followed, this sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Consumer spending and investment dropped dramatically over the next few years. This caused steep declines in industrial output and rising levels of unemployment as failing companies laid off workers. By March 1930, more than 3.2 million people are unemployed. By November 1930 New York City streets were crowded with unemployed people trying to make money by selling apples for five cents a piece, called Apple-Sellers. According to American Experience, the inequality of the rich vs. the poor, merged with the non-stop production of goods and the rising personal debt of many citizens, things could no longer be supported. President at the time, Herbert Hoover, underestimated how serious the situation actually was and called it, “a passing incident in our national lives.” and was certain that this would pass within the next 6...
Beginning on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, a total of 14 billion dollars was lost in America’s economy. Near the end of the week the 14 billion turned into a total of 30 billion dollars (The Great Depression Facts). Many events during the Stock Market Crash caused damage to the economy and lifestyle of the country, ending with recuperations from The Depression.
The US government’s role in the Great Depression has been very controversy. Different hypothesizes argued differently on the causes of the Great depression and whether the New Deal introduced by the government and President Roosevelt helped United States got out of the depression. I would argue that even though not the only factor, the US government did lead the country into the Great Depression and the New Deal actually delayed the recovery process. I will discuss five different factors (stock market crash, bank failure, tariff and tax cut, consumer spending and agriculture) that are commonly accepted to cause the depression and how the government linked to them. Furthermore, I will try to show how the government prolonged the depression in the United States by introducing the New Deal.
I. President Roosevelt Franklin often say ‘’the only thing we must fear is fear itself.’’ The Americans lived by this statement during the great depression. A. Although the great depression changed the united states tremendously, many people are unfamiliar of what cause the great depression. Not to mention how America became great again.
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.