Psychological Effects of Aging (Essay Sample)

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Aging
Aging is arguably among the most significant aspects of life. Growth and development constitute to aging; our perception of the world is dependent on life’s stages, it is expected that older people will have clearer and better perception of the world than the young. We all have unique chances to be young and to age, however; what an individual does in between may be different but the aging characteristics are similar. Health care is important for aging, in the modern world; it is a common perception that good health care constitutes a longer life. As one grows older; their perception of the world changes as we are faced with different challenges.
There cognitive and psychological changes associated with aging, these effects are both positive and negative and form the characteristics of aging. Among the positive changes associated with aging is wisdom; as people grow old, they face numerous challenges and experiences throughout their lives which constitute to wisdom (Wise, 78). The elder people are considered wiser for this reason and thus they are able to advice the youth. Maturity also comes with age; older people are more composed and able to conduct themselves amidst different situations in a more mature way as compared to younger people (Nouwen et.al, 37). Self-esteem and self -confidence are also gained with age and older people carry themselves with more personal trust and decisiveness than younger people (Nouwen et.al, 37).
Cognitive aspects of an individual are centered in the areas of orientation, language, sensation, intelligence, attention, memory and perception (Kaeberlein et.al, 52). Aged people tend to have problems associated to hearing, sight as well as postures and some end up in wheel chairs or using stuffs for support while walking (John, 41). Aging impairs the stated characteristics and from this we can deduce the considerably negative aspects of aging. Memory loss among the aged causes them to be forgetful of what they previously knew as well as any new information they gather (Kaeberlein et.al, 57). Memory loss makes the aged people more repetitive of themselves as well as more dependent on repetition In order to understand and encode new information. Aged people tend to be less attentive this can be attributed to their shorter concentration spans; those above the age of 65 are thus discouraged to operate heavy machinery or drive (Johh, 46). Language also changes with age, some of the aged people are unable to coordinate their speech as well as remember words so as to construct a sentence and hold a conversation (Salthouse, 77). Perception is also another aspect that changes with age, the aged people are at times unable to understand what is going on around them; this combined with memory loss see’s the aged unable to recognize their friend and family and thus collectively reducing their perception (Binstock et.al, 29). Intelligence and creativity on the other hand tends to go unchanged throughout a life-time, if an aged person does not suffer from any decision impairing condition, they tend to remain creative and intelligence.
Psychological effects that come with age are mainly as result of how the aged person relates with other people. Loss of independence is among the most prevalent psychological effect, the person is unable to carry out their personal and daily activities and they have to depend on someone else. This includes activities such as feeding, bathing, clothing; this makes the aged person feel helpless and in return hurts their pride and some tend to be brutal as a defense mechanism (Fàrnstrand, 53). Grief and loss are also among the most prevalent psychological effects of aging. The elder people often have to deal with the fact that the longer they live; they will lose more friends and family through death (Fàrnstrand, 56). This affects them psychologically as they tend to feel lonely and lose their self-worth. Ageism and discrimination also affect the aged; the society is mainly youth oriented and thus most aged people who are eligible to work and those that choose to volunteer are at times discriminated against as compared to the younger people who are considered more productive (Fàrnstrand, 59). The society also tends to neglect the aged some end up being completely neglected by their relatives and have to depend on government care. This affects them psychologically as they feel deserted and unappreciated and some of die from depression related conditions.
Different people are affected differently by the above stated issues and this is dependent on factors such as subjective and objective health issues. As earlier observed, health is an important factor in aging; the health issues such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and hypertension are more prevalent among the aged and thus they increase their chances of suffering with the above stated conditions (Wise, 71). Personal traits are also a contributing factor to the kind of cognitive and psychological challenges that one has to endure in their older age. Adventurous, avoidance of danger, and risk averse individuals are more likely to avoid most problems in old age as they have been found to be more adaptive to age (Nouwen et.al, 82). This means they easier to control and guide in the old age as they are able to keep their composure in old age as compared to rest who want to continue living life in full as they had been accustomed to in their youth. Lifestyle choices also affect the quality of life that one will have when they age. Lifestyle choices include; diet choices, physical fitness, and alcoholism and drug abuse(Binstock et.al, 33). Those who chose to keep fit, adopt a balanced diet as well as avoi...