Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Physical and psychological changes in ageing
Cognitive effects of aging
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Physical and psychological changes in ageing
Late adulthood could be difficult to define, mainly because there is a myriad of individual dissimilarity in the physical, cognitive and social processes of aging among individuals in this group. Individuals age 65 and beyond that fall within this group make up roughly 15% of the US population and are the fastest-growing segment of the population (Colby & Ortman, 2014). Naturally with aging comes a host of physical changes due to illness and aging process. Physical changes can be divided into two main categories: external changes that manifest in outward signs of aging and internal changes that affect internal body organs and systems. In addition, psychological and cognitive changes can sometimes occur due to natural decay of memory cells.
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...
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,
Desjarlais, R., & Throop, C. J. (2011). Phenomenological approaches in anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 40, 87-102. doi: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092010-153345.
I was surprised to learn that successful aging is a combination of physical and functional health, high cognitive functioning, and active involvement with society. It was interesting to learn that these factors could lead to a lower risk of disease and disability. As
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.
In the body-transcendence versus body-preoccupation stage, one must be able to learn and accept physical changes that happen as we get older, we refer to this as transcendence. If someone is unable to do so, they become preoccupied with the physical deterioration, to the detriment of their personality development. Although the physical capabilities are not the same in the elderly as when they were young, many older people stay regularly fit considering their age. The changes that began in middle adulthood are becoming more unmistakable by the time one finds themselves in late adulthood. The two distinct types of aging are primary aging and secondary aging. Primary aging involves the irreversible changes that occur as people get older due to genetic programming. Secondary aging refers to the changes that are bought on by illnesses and diseases, not increased by age itself. Late adulthood is a very interesting period of life. Since people are now living longer than ever before, late adulthood is increasing in length. Whether we say it starts at 65 or 70 years, the amount of people included in this stage is larger than ever before, due to medicine and technological advances. One of the most obvious signs someone is in late adulthood would be a person’s hair. Most people’s hair become distinctly gray and eventually white, which may thin
One physical aspect may include changes to skin and appearance. As one ages the body becomes weaker and processes take much longer. Breathing and circulation becomes weaker and skin becomes less elastic. Also, muscles become weaker and as it joins with the skin bones become less flexible and thus they become less mobile.
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).
Late adulthood is known as the period of life after middle adulthood, usually from around 65 years old to death (Santrock, 2013, p. 485). There are many varying stages of development and health in late adulthood, along with steady changing of life expectancy. Aging is a part of life, and with it comes changes in every area of living. Many diseases find late adulthood as an opportune time to affect people. Eventually, whether caused by disease or another reason, every individual dies. Death is unique to every person, and healthcare in America is changing to reflect that. This stage of life is a time when bodily processes and functions may be decreasing, but depending on lifestyle choices, death can come at different times.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
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.
Peters, R. “Ageing and the Brain.” Postcard Medical Journal. Feb. 2006. Web. 12 May 2014
Viewing the video about late adulthood has open up my eyes about life. I look at my parents which are 67 and 68 years old. They are experiencing all the things that highlighted in the video. My parents’ health has deteriorated. Even though my father had a stroke about 14 years ago, it seems to be getting worse. I have notice that my father’s muscle mass has gone down even though he still weigh the same. He seem frail now. This is the same for my mother. She seems shorter now. My mom and I are 5’4 in height but I notice that she is a couple inches shorter now. I noticed that their skin is losing their elasticity however, my parents skin is still smooth and not a lot of wrinkles. My father gets frustrated with himself when he cannot
23. Rybash, John M., Paul A. Roodin, and William J. Hoyer. Adult Development and Aging, 3d ed.
Section Eight From what I know of middle, late, and very late adulthood, I am interested to see how my development will differ and be similar to that of my parents. The close relationships I have with my parents clue me into what it is like to be a middle adult, and my time spent with my 90-year-old great grandfather has shown me how late adulthood can be. My parents experience fruitful careers and meaningful relationships with a handful of people, but they also experience high amounts of stress from their jobs and the responsibilities they have as parents. My parents have gone through marriage, child rearing, and divorce. They have also had to experience death of close family members and friends.