5 psychological problems of the elderly – Online Psychologists

The end of the adult stage of life and the beginning of the stage traditionally called «third age» It has traditionally been framed around the age of 65, that is, it has long been marked by the age of retirement or the end of the productive stage of the person.

This stage of life is the last of all the stages that a person will experience. This fact, linked to a series of physical and psychological changes that the person will experience themselves, can make this stage be experienced as a stage of cognitive and social deterioration that precedes the death of the individual.

Considering that the current life expectancy is around 80 years in Europe, that leaves us with a life margin of 15 years or more in the old age stage, which is why it will be essential to learn to live in a healthy and psychologically appropriate way in this last stage of life.

This is not easy. The family and economic situation of people over 65 can be complicated in many cases. Added to this is the fact that culture and western society In general, it is not prepared to accommodate these people who can no longer contribute economic value through their work to the development of society.

This is why it is essential to learn to managing feelings and emotions that arise at these ages and give importance to the psychological problems that they may present.

It is often said that depression is a normal feature of the aging process. Although it is true that many elderly people suffer from depression to a greater or lesser degree, it should not be considered a normal occurrence.

Depression in people over 65 is a problem that requires special attention from the age of 65, since in many cases there is a high risk of suicide due in many cases to the lack of family support or associated health problems.

Diagnosing depression in old age is not a simple task, since the person may often have other types of chronic or degenerative diseases that are masking or have been the basis of the depression.

In the development of depression in the elderly, the following play an important role: psychophysical changes at the brain level, typical of age, as well as diseases that can often cause physical limitations with the consequent loss of autonomy for the person who suffers from them.

The current social situation also favors this type of pathology in older people, since retirement normally implies a loss of purchasing power and a decrease in social statusIf we add to that the inevitable loss of family members or friends, we can visualize the basis of the problem of depression.

The initial symptom of depression in older people is usually apathy. The person begins to feel that he or she does not feel like doing anything or that he or she no longer enjoys the activities that he or she used to enjoy. They often say that «life does not excite them.»

As depression progresses, complaints tend to be more somaticreporting nonspecific physical symptoms or somatizations of the following types: headache, gastrointestinal problems or pain in the extremities.

It is important to take into account all these symptoms and try Go to an online psychologist who is an expert in self-esteem who can properly diagnose them. Often, in older patients, the diagnosis must be made jointly by a psychologist and a neurologist, who will help rule out other physiological problems associated with age.

One of the main needs of the human being is feel acceptedWe all like to feel useful to society, accepted and taken into account. These aspects are essential to having good self-esteem that allows us to carry on with our daily life in a good mood.

Many people reach the age of 65 and still feel active and willing to continue with their jobs, but unfortunately there are few who, after retirement age, can continue exercising their profession. jobToo often these people are relieved by younger people who take over their work.

In this way we find a large number of elderly people who, despite being able to continue with their jobs, are not allowed to do so and, therefore, must assume their responsibility. withdrawal.

This is one of the most traumatic events a person can experience. From one day to the next, you go from being a productive person to a person without a job and with no chance of ever getting one again, despite feeling completely fit. Although they look good, society sends them the message that they must leave their place to others. younger peoplewith renewed energy.

When the person receives these messages from society, self-esteem inevitably suffers a severe setback.

Lack of self-esteem can often be the beginning of the depressive process, which is why it is especially important to take into account the person's mood and try, as far as possible, to maintain their self-esteem. personal autonomy to feel useful and capable.

The sleep patterns They change with age. While young children need many hours of sleep to rest and allow their brain and body to develop optimally, as we get older the hours of sleep that the body needs become fewer or, more accurately, they need to be less frequent.

Many older people report that your sleep is much lighter that when they were young, they had more trouble falling asleep and woke up more often at night.

This is partly because deep sleep, which facilitates learning and brain development, is not as necessary for older people and is therefore less common. Added to this is the fact that joint pain associated with chronic diseases, increased need to urinate or other psychological problems associated with age, make people wake up more often at night and be more aware of being awake.

This situation can lead to a huge concern in the person who suffers from it, since they feel that they cannot rest as well as they did before. We must bear in mind that it is a normal process that older people suffer and that, therefore, what must be worked on is establishing a new sleep routine: they probably will not sleep much at night, but it is recommended that, during the day, they take short restorative naps that help them rest their body and mind.

In older people the ability to overcome stress everyday stress is less than when they were young. The body of an elderly person works well as long as it is not subjected to great stress, and stress is both physical and mental.

It is quite possible that when faced with the same stressful situation, an older person will break down sooner than a younger person, given that the body is affected by age itself and the perception of stress is usually greater in older people.

When a occurs stress situationthe body goes on alert to overcome it, but under normal conditions, the body returns to its initial state more or less quickly when the stressful situation has passed. In older people, it seems that this mechanism is activated more easily and is much slower to deactivate, so they are subject to more stress in general.

If this normal feature of the aging process If we add to this the social situation that these people often have to live with (loneliness, economic problems, family concerns, etc.), we see that the vulnerability of older people to stress is very significant.

Dementia in older people is one of the most common disorders, The probability of suffering from it begins to increase progressively from the age of 60.

Dementia, also called senile dementia, although we must bear in mind that aging and dementia are not synonyms, is an organic mental syndrome whose main characteristic is memory loss short and long term.

In addition to memory problems, which are usually the initial symptom that alerts both the person who suffers from it and their family and friends, dementia usually occurs with thought disorders and personality changes, among other symptoms.

The most common dementias are those caused by Alzheimer's diseasethe Pick's diseasethe Parkinson's diseasethe Huntington's chorea or the vascular diseases.

The assessment and diagnosis of dementia should be carried out by a team of professionals of neuropsychological evaluation composed mainly of doctors, psychiatrists, neurologists and psychologists.

More than ever in older adulthood it will be important for people to have a social and family support to help them overcome or better cope with these age-related problems.

Still, it never hurts to go to a psychology professional that can guide both the patient and family members to improve the quality of life for both parties.

In Psychia you can find specialized chartered psychologists. Contact them.