Age features of the elderly. Abstract: Psychological characteristics of the elderly. Need help with a topic
Aging is an inevitable biological fact, however, the socio-cultural environment in which it occurs has an impact on it. The mental health of an elderly person in our time at every stage of life is largely determined by his participation in society.
Change in social status in old age, mainly due to the termination or restriction of labor relations, revision of values and outlook on life, change in lifestyle and lifestyle, communications, the emergence of difficulties in social adaptation and internal psychological resistance to new conditions, requires the development of specific approaches, forms and methods social work with the elderly.
For an old person, for objective age reasons, social ties narrow, and social activity decreases.
First, because with the forced suspension of professional activities, the creation and renewal of a system of relationships and social obligations naturally occurs, very few older people continue to actively participate in business life (usually those who are trying to avoid addiction and where the main character trait is self-confidence).
Secondly, his age group is gradually decreasing, and many of his closest friends are dying or having difficulty maintaining relationships (due to moving friends to children or other relatives).
A number of studies in the field of gerontology indicate that, in principle, each person grows old alone, because in old age he gradually abstracts from other people. Older people are more dependent on lateral lines of kinship. Indirect relationships become the norm, they try to maintain them in the absence of other close relatives. It is curious that many older people do not consider themselves old, and therefore do not want or limit the time to communicate with friends (especially those who complain of old age and illness), preferring the company of young people - as a rule, these are representatives of the next person. generations. At the same time, they often find that new social relationships, in which the younger generation treats them condescendingly, reject the life experiences and advice of older people, and that older people have no place in other age groups and in society at large.
Lack of contact with the public can cause emotional changes in older people: despondency, pessimism, anxiety and fear for the future. People at this age are almost always explicitly or implicitly accompanied by the thought of death, especially in cases of loss of relatives and friends. When one in ten is eliminated from peers at this age, it can be difficult to find someone else to take their place from the younger generation. In this sense, not European, but Asian models of culture are in a better position. In countries such as China and Japan, which do not link this age band and do not refer to a dense homogeneous mass.
In these cultures, the elderly are assigned the role of patriarchs, elders, they have the opportunity to communicate with each other, there is a broadcast of experience with the young, direct participation in socially significant events of society is welcomed.
Thirdly, people at this age quickly get tired of intense social contacts, many of which seem unimportant and irrelevant to them. They limit themselves in communicating with the outside world. An elderly person increasingly wants to be alone "away from the rest of the people." An older person's social circle is often quite narrow, limited to their immediate family, friends, and neighbors who live nearby.
Participation in social life inevitably decreases with age, which exacerbates the problem of loneliness. But the problem of reduced social activity and loneliness is more acute for older people living in cities than in rural areas. This is due to the difference in the way of life of people living in the city and in the countryside. Older people with stable mental and physical health are more likely to try and maintain existing social connections for longer. They often give them a ritual character (for example, late-night phone calls, weekly shopping trips, monthly meetings of friends, common anniversaries, anniversaries, etc.). On average, women occupy more social contacts due to the fact that they have more social roles, they often have more friends than men. However, it has been noted that older women are more likely than men to complain about loneliness and lack of social contacts.
After the age of 60, the feeling of social exclusion of older people from younger generations gradually increases, which is especially painfully perceived in societies where social services are insufficiently offered. Many older people often live with a sense of worthlessness, rejection of them as a full-fledged unit of society, lack of demand for their life experience. This means that in old age not only a narrowing of interpersonal contacts is noted, but also a violation of the quality of human relations. Older people with emotional disorders are acutely aware of this, which is often humiliatingly demoralizing. They prefer voluntary isolation, thus trying to protect themselves from the mocking arrogance of the young. These obsessions can become the basis of senile suicide along with financial insecurity and the fear of dying alone.
A wide range of factors influence the social relations of the elderly. So, we know that people over 60 often complain about their health and age, despite the fact that they are not very sick and not too old. L.M. Terman noted that such phenomena are often observed after the loss of a loved one (widow) or in a situation of lonely aging, that is, lonely elderly people often associate themselves with the sick.
Factors contributing to the fact that a person begins to "feel his age", experiences despair and depression, in this case the following processes occur: experiencing the loss of loved ones and observing the rules of mourning, the need to find new friends who will accept him as a person of his circle, and help fill the resulting "vacuum". He must learn to solve many problems on his own. On the other hand, a person is less prone to feelings of loneliness if he feels the comfort and stability of existence, he is happy at home, satisfied with his material conditions and place of residence, if he has the potential to continue his contacts with other people, if he plans to some additional activities of his life if he focuses on new activities and long-term projects (expecting grandchildren, buying a car or defending a son's thesis, harvesting apples, etc.).
Until now, we have considered a kind of "vertical" of old age, its position in the structure of integral human life. Let us now turn to its “horizontal”, that is, in fact, to the features of the psychological portrait of old age. Here, for example, is how E. Averbukh characterizes the elderly in his work: “Old people minimize their well-being, self-esteem of well-being, self-awareness, self-esteem, they have an increased sense of resentment, inferiority, uncertainty about the future. There is a decrease in adequate perception of humor , various disturbing fears, loneliness, helplessness, poverty, fear of death usually prevail.People at this age become rude, irritable, misanthropes, look at the world pessimistically.
Most people lose the ability to enjoy life, their interest in the outside world decreases. They become selfish and self-centered, more withdrawn, the range of interests narrows, there is a growing interest in the experience of the past and its reassessment. Along with this, there is an increased interest in one's body, attention to various unpleasant sensations that are often observed in old age, self-doubt, which makes the elderly less open in the future. They become pedantic, conservative, lack initiative, and so on. .
All these changes, combined with a decrease in visual perception, memory, intellectual activity, creates a unique portrait of an old person and makes all old people similar to each other to some extent.
In the elderly, the motivational sphere is gradually changing, and an important factor is the lack of the need to work every day to satisfy their needs. According to Maslow, the basic needs of the elderly and senile age are bodily needs, the need for security and reliability.
Many older people begin to live one day, even simple household chores and simple matters become important to maintain a sense of employment, they must do something to feel the need for themselves and others.
As a rule, older people do not make long-term plans. For them, plans are of great importance at the present time. They live in memories of the past, not looking far ahead, although some "strings" in the near, foreseeable future are still stretched. Of particular importance is the implementation creative activity older generation. Biographical Research Results creative people show that their productivity and efficiency does not decrease at the end of ontogeny in various fields of science and art.
One of the interesting phenomena of old age is unexpected explosions. creativity. Thus, in the 50s of the twentieth century, newspapers around the world told about an interesting fact: 80-year-old grandmother Grandma Moses began to write original art paintings, and her exhibition was a great success with the public. Many old people followed her example, not always with the same success, but always with great personal gain.
In old age, not only significant changes occur with a person, but also a person's attitude to these changes. Typology F. Giese designates 3 types of old age:
The old man is a negativist, denying any sign of old age and decrepitude;
The old man - an extrovert (in the typology of C. G. Jung), recognizes the onset of old age, but this recognition comes through external influences and observations of the surrounding reality;
The old man is an introvert, wounded by the aging process, manifests dullness in relation to new interests, enlightenment of the memory of the past, memories, interest in metaphysics, inactivity, insufficiency in the manifestation of emotions, a decrease or complete absence of sexual capabilities, a desire for peace.
Of course, these estimates are approximate. No less interesting is the classification of socio-psychological types of old age by I.S. Kona, built on the basis of the nature of the type of activity that occupies old age.
Active, creative age when a person who has completed his working career retires and continues to participate in public life, in the education of youth, etc.;
Old age with good social adaptation and psychological orientation, when the energy of an aging person is directed to the arrangement of his life - material well-being, recreation, entertainment and self-study - for everything that there was not enough time for before.
- "female" type of aging - in this case, the family needs the services of an elderly person: housework, family problems, raising children, grandchildren, looking after the country house, because housework is inexhaustible, so there is no time to be depressed, but contentment life in this category of older people is usually lower than in the two previous groups;
Old age in maintaining a healthy lifestyle ("male" type of aging) - in this case, moral satisfaction from life is filled with concern for one's health, which allows one to activate various types of activity, but in this case a person can pay more attention to his fictitious ailments and reduce attention to a real progressive disease, an increased sense of anxiety prevails.
These four types of Con. I.S. considers them psychologically successful, but there are also negative types of development in old age. For example, one can attribute to them: old grumblers, dissatisfied with the state of the world, criticizing everything and everything except themselves, and teaching and terrorizing their environment with endless claims. Another option for the realization of the negative manifestations of old age is disappointed in oneself and one's own life as a loser, such people are lonely and sad. They blame themselves for their missed real opportunities. They are also unable to drive away dark memories and past life mistakes, which makes them very unhappy.
Thus, the main psychological characteristics of older people are characterized by the following features:
1) with the age of a person, his social ties and social activity narrow;
2) due to the lack of contacts with society, the elderly experience a decline in spirit, anxiety, a life stereotype is sharply violated, adaptability to new conditions, the whole way of life is rebuilt;
3) an old person quickly gets tired of social contacts that require his active participation, he wants to be alone, “take a break from people”;
4) elderly people gradually change their outlook, they begin to live "one day", they are most worried about the fear of being a burden for relatives, the fear of health problems.
State budget professional educational institution
"Kushchev Medical College"
Ministry of Health of the Krasnodar Territory
Features of the elderly and senile age
Methodical development for the teacher
theoretical (lecture) classes
PM 02. Participation in the treatment, diagnostic and rehabilitation processes.
MDK 02.01. Nursing care for various diseases and conditions.
Section 1. Nursing care in geriatrics.
Specialty: 34.02.01 - Nursing
course - IV; semester - VIII
st-tsa Kushchevskaya
Motivation
The problem of aging and old age is the object of a special interdisciplinary branch of knowledge - gerontology. Gerontology focuses on the biological, psychological and sociological aspects of aging.
During aging, the principle of heterochrony operates. It manifests itself in the fact that not all human organs and systems age at the same time and at the same rate.
Aging is a natural and normative process, it has a wide range of individual differences. The individual characteristics of human aging determine the existence various options aging. Clinical and physiological indicators make it possible to distinguish several syndromes of old age: hemodynamic (changes in the cardiovascular system), neurogenic (changes in the nervous system), respiratory (changes in the respiratory system).
External bodily changes during aging are well known (gray hair, wrinkles, etc.). In addition, changes in the structure of the skeleton lead to a decrease in height, which can decrease by 3-5 cm due to compression of the intervertebral discs. Osteoporosis occurs (demineralization of bones, expressed in the loss of calcium), as a result, the bones become brittle. Muscle mass decreases, as a result of which strength and endurance decrease. Blood vessels lose their elasticity, some of them clog, because of this, the blood supply to the body worsens, with all the ensuing consequences. The efficiency of the cardiovascular system as a whole decreases, the ability of the lungs to carry out gas exchange weakens. In the immune system, the production of antibodies decreases, and the body's defenses weaken. At the same time regular physical exercises, contributing to the strengthening of muscles, in old age improve the somatic status of the body.
The importance of studying this topic is obvious: the knowledge gained will help you in further education in other academic disciplines, during undergraduate practice, writing and defending a final qualifying work, and in future professional activities.
Lesson objectives
To give students knowledge about the characteristics of the elderly and senile age.
Didactic:
After working in a lecture session, the student should have an idea:
about characteristic specific changes in emotional sphere a person in late adulthood;
about characteristic specific changes in the higher mental functions of a person in the period of late adulthood;
about age-related morphological and functional changes in the organs and systems of a person of elderly and senile age.
Know:
periodization of late adulthood;
characteristic specific changes in the emotional sphere of a person in the period of late adulthood;
manifestations of age-related depression according to N. F. Shakhmatov;
specific changes in the higher mental functions of a person in the period of late adulthood;
age-related morphological and functional changes in the organs and systems of a person of elderly and senile age.
Be able to:
use terminology;
reply on topic.
1.2. Developing:
to develop the cognitive activity of students;
develop the ability to highlight the key issues in the lecture material;
develop professional interest in the characteristics of the elderly and senile;
develop the ability to establish a connection between the material under consideration and existing knowledge in other clinical disciplines.
2. Educational:
to cultivate the cognitive interest of students, the desire to apply the acquired knowledge in practice;
develop a sense of responsibility for the health of the patient;
educate professional duty, love for the medical profession.
2. Methodical:
deepen and expand theoretical knowledge on the topic;
achieve effective assimilation of educational material;
to ensure high-quality methodological equipment of the educational process.
3. Duration of the lesson: 90 minutes.
4. Venue: lecture hall.
5. Form and methods of organizing the process according to Babansky.
5.1. Lesson type: learning new material.
5.2. Class type - lecture.
5.3. Methods of organization and implementation of educational and cognitive activities of students
5.3.1. Perceptual methods:
verbal: report;
visual: demonstration.
5.3.2. Boolean methods:
analytical-synthetic;
deductive.
5.3.3. Gnostic methods:
reproductive.
5.4. Methods of forming interest in learning:
reliance on previously acquired life experience;
entertaining situation.
5.4.1. Methods of developing duty and responsibility to teaching:
positive example methods;
methods of creating favorable learning.
5.4.2. Methods of control and self-control in training:
Literature for the teacher
Main
Additional
2. Kryukova D. A. A healthy person and his environment, 2015, pp. 438-441.
Literature for students
Main
1. Kovtun E. I. Nursing in geriatrics. - St. Petersburg, 2014, p. 51-56, 65-177, 204-228.
Additional
1. Bortnikova S. M. Nursing in neurology and psychiatry with a course in narcology. St. Petersburg-Publishing House "Lan", 2015, p. 234-236, 238-243, 289-298.
Map of intradisciplinary connections
| Supporting themes | The connection between the studied and the studied | Themes Provided |
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| Age-related anatomical and functional changes in elderly and senile people Complications of acute and chronic diseases in the elderly and senile age | "Features of the development of diseases and pharmacotherapy in the elderly and senile age" |
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| "The course of acute and chronic diseases in the elderly and senile age" |
Map of visual aids and TCO
| p/p | View | Name |
| TCO | Multimedia projector |
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| visibility Presentation Visual aids | Features of the elderly and senile age Board, chalk, screen. |
Map of interdisciplinary connections
| p/p | Discipline | Topic |
| Providing |
||
| Basics of the Latin language with medical terminology | Anatomical terminology |
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| A healthy person and his environment Mature age | Health of the elderly and senile |
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| Human anatomy and physiology | Morphofunctional characteristics of the apparatus of movement Anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system Anatomical and physiological features of the cardiovascular system circulatory process Morphofunctional characteristics of the digestive tract |
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| Provided Internship Writing a thesis Future professional activity |
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Lecture timeline
| p/p | Stages of the lesson | Time |
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| Organizing time. Theme motivation. Objectives of the lesson, intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary connections | |||
| Updating of basic knowledge | |||
| Presentation of new material | |||
| Systematization and consolidation of the material presented | |||
| Summarizing. | |||
| Homework | |||
| Total: | |||
Updating of basic knowledge
| p/p | View | Sample response |
| List the higher mental functions? | perception, imagination, memory, thinking and speech. |
|
| Trachea nstarts from the lower border of the larynx at the level of the lower edge of the 6th cervical vertebra and ends at the level | upper edge of the 5th thoracic vertebra |
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| What is the cardiovascular system made of? | heart and blood vessels |
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| What two groups of organs is the human digestive system divided into? | on the organs of the gastrointestinal tract and auxiliary organs (salivary glands, liver, pancreas, etc.) |
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| What is the urinary system made of? | from a pair of kidneys, two ureters, Bladder, urethra. |
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| Tissue rich in spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes | lymphoid |
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| List the types of bones | three types - tubular, sponge and flat |
Lecture plan
Introduction
1. Periodization of late adulthood.
2. Characteristic specific changes in the emotional sphere of a person in the period of late adulthood.
3. Manifestations of age-related depression according to N. F. Shakhmatov.
4. Specific changes in the higher mental functions of a person in the period of late adulthood.
5. Age-related morphological and functional changes in the organs and systems of a person of elderly and senile age.
Lecture #1
Topic: Features of elderly and senile people.
The period of late adulthood is often referred to as gerontogenesis, or the period of aging. Some authors believe that in women, the period of late adulthood begins at 55, and in men - at 60 years. People who have reached this age are divided into three subgroups: the elderly, senile age and centenarians. Four sub-periods: 60-69 years - presenile; 70 - 79 - senile; 80 - 89 - late senile; 90 years and older - decrepitude. The main feature of late adulthood is aging - a genetically programmed process, accompanied by certain physiological and psychological changes.
The period of late adulthood is characterized by specific changes in the emotional sphere of a person: an uncontrolled increase in affective reactions, a tendency to unreasonable sadness, tearfulness. Most older people tend to be eccentric, less sensitive, self-absorbed, and less able to cope with difficult situations. Older men become more passive and allow themselves to display more feminine traits, while older women become more aggressive, practical and domineering.
Senile anxiety, emotional detachment and, to some extent, depression perform protective functions:
1) Chronic senile concern plays the role of a kind of readiness for frustration, therefore it helps an elderly person to avoid strong emotional outbursts in really critical situations, sharpens the subjective picture of the present, helps to avoid boredom, is one of the ways to structure time.
2) Emotional detachment, outwardly manifested as indifference, helps to avoid deep suffering, which is especially full of old age, including such as the death of loved ones.
3) Typical for late adulthood is age-related situational depression - a uniform and persistent decrease in mood, increase! resentment and anxiety. At the same time, this condition seems normal to the most elderly person, so any help is rejected.
Manifestations of age-related depression (N. F. Shakhmatov):
1. Hypochondriacal fixation on painful sensations (a lively discussion of them with others, an overvalued attitude to medicines and methods of treatment) is a protective mechanism, considering the disease, not to see one's own old age.
2. Ideas about oppression (the main feeling is resentment, and the thought is “everyone wants to get rid of me”).
3. Tendency to fictions that testify to their special significance (telling real episodes of one's life with exaggeration or fiction).
4. Feelings of worthlessness and insecurity are typical for older people, but often they do not correspond to their real life situation. The sources of this feeling: the first - when a person ceases to be needed by himself and projects this feeling onto others; the second is the weakness of a person, you need constant confirmation of your need. Both sources are interconnected.
The level of fears in late adulthood rises because, on the one hand, they accumulate over the course of life, on the other hand, the approach of the end poses a threat. The fear of death can be projected onto the environment, which in this case is seen in a negative context.
A reaction to not accepting one's own old age can be suicide. Older people mask their suicidal intentions by literally starving themselves, overdosing, mixing up or not taking their medicine on time.
HMF: thinking is more and more dialectical, the ability to assimilate new impressions, cognitive ability, memory, memorization of current events is weakened, while maintaining the events of the past, changes in intelligence are very individual.
Persons of mature age are psychologically more difficult to respond to chronic and disabling diseases.
Significant morphological and functional changes occur in the respiratory organs in the process of aging. After 60 years, degenerative-dystrophic changes in the bones and muscles of the chest appear. Costal cartilages lose their elasticity as a result of the deposition of calcium salts in them, the mobility of the costovertebral joints is impaired. Osteochondrosis of the thoracic region, atrophy of the long muscles of the back leads to the development of senile kyphosis. The result is a deformity of the chest (barrel-shaped), and this leads to a decrease in the mobility of the chest and a deterioration in pulmonary ventilation. The trachea in old age shifts down to the level of the fifth thoracic vertebra, its lumen expands, the wall becomes calcified. Connective tissue grows around the bronchi - protrusion of the walls of the bronchi, narrowing of the lumen, dysfunction, leads to the development of pathological processes. The lung tissue loses elasticity, the walls of the alveoli become thinner, and ruptures are possible. Pulmonary vessels: fibrosis develops in the pulmonary arteries, arterioles and venules. The number of functioning capillaries, the permeability of capillaries is reduced, the filling of blood vessels in the lungs decreases. The vital capacity of the lungs decreases due to morphological changes in the respiratory apparatus. The nervous apparatus that regulates breathing also changes in the process of aging. The weakening of the regulation of breathing leads to a decrease in the adaptation of the respiratory function during physical exertion, the development of conditioned respiratory reflexes becomes more difficult, and respiratory arrhythmias become more frequent. In old age, the cough reflex decreases, which leads to a violation of the drainage function. In the process of aging, adaptive mechanisms are formed that support the mechanisms that are optimal for an aging person. Compensatory mechanisms: increased sensitivity to carbon dioxide of the respiratory center and vascular chemoreceptors. Adaptive: increased sensitivity of the nuclei of the hypothalamus to adrenaline and acetylcholine. The adaptive mechanism is easily exhausted and decompensated after loads.
In the cardiovascular system in old age, age-related sclerotic lesions occur primarily in the vessels of the heart, large and small vessels, which leads to insufficient blood supply to vital organs and tissues.
Sclerotic changes in the myocardium lead to a decrease in its contractility. With age, electrolyte metabolism in tissues is disturbed, which affects the contractility of the myocardium. This leads to impaired myocardial excitability and frequent arrhythmias. In the elderly, blood pressure tends to increase, and venous pressure decreases with age. With age, there is also a regular decrease in the physical performance of older people. In this regard, the reserve adaptive capacity of the cardiovascular system changes.
In addition, atherosclerotic lesions of the heart vessels lead to impaired coronary blood flow. As a result, ischemia occurs, dystrophy of the muscle fibers of the heart, their atrophy, and their replacement with connective tissue. This is how atherosclerotic cardiosclerosis, heart failure, and various cardiac arrhythmias develop. Heart rate in old age tends to slow down. Under heavy loads in the elderly, a discrepancy quickly appears between the blood supply to the heart muscle and its need for oxygen and nutrients.
In the process of aging, atrophic processes develop in the digestive organs, and their function is disturbed. Oral cavity: due to caries and periodontal disease, the number of teeth decreases, the color is yellowish, worn teeth, cracks in the enamel. The volume of the oral cavity decreases, the bones of the facial skull atrophy, and the bite is disturbed. Mimic and chewing muscles are subject to atrophy. Difficulty biting and chewing. Salivary glands: atrophy - this leads to constant dryness in the mouth, cracks in the tongue and lips. Tongue: increases, taste sensitivity to sweet, sour, bitter is disturbed. The enzymatic activity of saliva is reduced, which leads to indigestion in the oral cavity. Esophagus: lengthened, curved. Atrophic changes appear in all layers of the esophageal wall. In the middle part of the esophagus, there may be difficulty in passing food, with age, the frequency of reflux (reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus) increases. Stomach: in the process of aging, all the structural elements of its walls change. The thickness of the mucous membrane decreases and the number of secretory cells decreases. The blood supply to the walls of the stomach is reduced. Age-related changes in the stomach wall lead to impaired secretory and motor functions. Intestine: its total length increases, often at the expense of some parts of the large intestine. The change in the intestines is due to age-related weakened muscle tone and the use of large quantities of coarse food during life. Violation of the motor function of the intestine leads to the occurrence of "senile constipation". Changes in the intestinal microflora: the number of bacteria of the putrefactive group increases, the number of bacteria of the lactic acid group decreases. Older people are more likely to develop colon polyps. With age, the mass of the liver decreases - this causes a violation of protein, fat, carbohydrate and pigment metabolism. Gallbladder: increased in volume, its motor function is weakened, which leads to stagnation of bile. Pancreas: its atrophic changes occur after 40 years. Glandular cells die, being replaced by connective tissue, the volume of adipose tissue is increased. Endocrine functions of the pancreas: the level of insulin in the blood is increased, but because part of it is in an inactive state. The level of glucose in the blood of older people increases.
Kidney disease is a common pathology of old age. According to domestic nephrologists, they are among the 4 main causes of death in elderly and senile people. With age, the death of the renal parenchyma progresses - by old age, a person loses 1/3 - ½ of nephrons, connective tissue grows, and age-related nephrosclerosis is formed. With aging, oxygen consumption by the kidneys decreases, the number of mitochondria in cells decreases, and total ATP activity decreases, which leads to a reduction in energy metabolism in the organ. The physiological level of renal circulation of glomerular filtration decreases. The excretory (nitrogen - water) function of the kidneys decreases and this leads to the formation of age-related renal hypofunction, a torpid type of the organ's reaction to irritation. Renal calyces, pelvis, ureters thicken with age, lose elasticity, increase capacity. The walls of the bladder thicken, which leads to a decrease in its capacity, and as a result, to an increase in the urge to urinate. The function of the closing apparatus of the bladder is reduced, which leads to urinary incontinence. Age-related structural metabolic functional regulatory changes reduce the reliability of the urinary system, increase the likelihood of decompensation (especially of the kidneys) under stress - this is important to know in terms of reducing the dose of drugs.
In the process of aging, the thyroid gland undergoes physiological involution, which occurs in several ways (V. JI. Bykov):
The gland is represented by large follicles, stretched by a dense colloid with a high content of neutral mucopolysaccharides. In this case, resorptive processes suffer more than synthetic ones;
The gland consists of small follicles lined with flattened cells. The volume of the stroma is somewhat increased;
Along with involutive processes, cystic changes are found in the thyroid parenchyma.
Any variant of involution of the thyroid gland is accompanied by a decrease in the relative volume of the epithelium and a decrease in the activity of enzyme systems in it. The height of the thyroid epithelium decreases, the colloidal substance thickens, the mitotic activity of epithelial cells decreases, the structural disorganization of mitochondria is characteristic, and the interfollicular connective tissue increases. As a result, in the process of aging, all three periods of the secretory cycle of thyrocytes are disturbed: biorinthesis, release of products into the lumen of the follicle, and excretion of thyroid hormones into the circulatory bed. In addition, with age, the vascularization of the thyroid gland decreases, which occupies the first place in the body in terms of the intensity of blood supply (56 ml of blood per 10 g of tissue). Changes in the structure of blood capillaries in the thyroid gland are more pronounced than in other endocrine glands.
With age, the bone marrow, organs rich in lymphoid tissue (spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes) undergo involution. In this regard, by the age of 65-75, the number of T- and B-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood decreases. In the bone marrow, the hematopoietic tissue is gradually replaced by adipose tissue. There is a tendency to increase the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation. Despite these features, the level of hemoglobin, leukocytes, platelets, leukocyte formula, blood coagulation, oxygen transport in the elderly remains practically unchanged. With diseases and various functional stresses in the elderly, the adaptive capabilities of the body, including those of the blood, decrease.
The system of support and movement naturally changes in the process of aging. The formation of age-related changes combines both biologically determined processes and the results of static-dynamic loads on supporting tissues during life, as well as neuromuscular effects weakened by age. Changes in the musculoskeletal system with age are characterized by dystrophic, destructive changes with predominance of osteoporosis of atrophic or hyperplastic processes. In parallel, compensatory-adapted reactions develop, aimed at restoring the lost function and structure (bone-cartilaginous growths of the vertebral bodies and discs, changes in their shape and curvature of the spine).
Clinically, this is manifested by moderate fatigue when walking, peripheral dull pain in the joints and spine, impaired posture and gait, decreased height, limited mobility in the joints, neurodynamic changes in the spine, characteristic of osteochondrosis, etc.
Questions to consolidate the material
| p/p | View | Sample response |
| What is the period of late adulthood often called? | gerontogenesis, or the period of aging |
|
| What are the functions of senile anxiety, emotional withdrawal and, to some extent, depression? | protective |
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| What could be R reaction to the rejection of their own old age in older people? | disguised suicidal intent |
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| What is exposed first age-related sclerotic lesions in the cardiovascular system in old age? | vessels of the heart |
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| Age at which atrophic changes occur in the pancreas | Fourty years |
Questions for generalization and systematization
| p/p | View | Sample response |
| Clinical situation: You, the district nurse, have been approached by a relative of a patient in mourning suffering from kidney disease, asking you to explain the reason for the minimum dose prescribed by the doctor medicinal product. your explanations. | Age-related structural metabolic functional regulatory changes reduce the reliability of the urinary system, increase the likelihood of decompensation (especially of the kidneys) under stress - this is important to know in terms of reducing the dose of drugs. |
Conclusion
Older people are considered to be people aged 60-65 years. The vast majority of them are active, continue to work after retirement, or help their children run the household, take care of their grandchildren. Even after 70 years, many people remain active, in demand, take care of themselves, have their own position in life. Their well-being is strongly influenced by the relationship of relatives to them, the atmosphere in the family, good care and food.
Elderly and senile age is a time when psychological problems overcome. Slowdown of important mental functions, weakening of memory, attention, decreased ability to think, analyze. Weakened ability to adapt. Stress, feelings associated with the loss of friends, loved ones, disability.
Decreased self-esteem due to a sense of one's age. Lack of communication, loneliness, lack of interest in modern life. Many people live in the past, their memories. Depression, suicidal thoughts associated with a lack of life prospects, illness, uselessness of the family, former employees, fear of imminent death.
After 65 years, the anatomical and physiological system of each person undergoes a number of serious changes at the genetic, immune, and hormonal levels. All tissues, organs, body systems change. The state of health is deteriorating, the social position of a person is changing.
With the onset of old age, age-related changes become more pronounced: the state of the nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and other systems worsens. Many thousands of cells die every day, blood vessels, muscles, tendons, connective tissue lose their firmness and elasticity. The work of the heart slows down, the activity of blood circulation decreases, the process of degeneration of the kidneys, liver, and digestive system begins. Reactions become weaker, muscles lose strength, bones and joints change. Internal changes are reflected in the external appearance: it becomes flabby, wrinkled skin, pigmentation occurs. Grey, thin hair, teeth fall out.
medical worker should understand the peculiarities and problems of the elderly and old people, try to make their lives easier, help them adapt to new realities, protect them from loneliness, and provide good care.
Homework
1. Kovtun E. I. Nursing in geriatrics. - St. Petersburg, 2014, p. 51-56, 65-177, 204-223.
2. Lecture No. 1 Features of the elderly and senile age.
3. Preparation of a conversation with the patient's relatives
Unfortunately, not many people understand that the actions and reactions of an elderly person should be assessed with an age-adjustment, that different age groups also have different values.
Changes in the character of an elderly person are explained by a weakening of control over one's own reactions, perhaps those features that could previously be masked due to their unattractiveness have come to the surface.
In addition, this age is characterized egocentrism, intolerance towards anyone who does not show proper attention, and "proper" at the highest level. All those around are considered egoists, as long as they are not absorbed in caring for the old person. As the saying goes: "An egoist is someone who loves himself more than me." This is one of the first obstacles that a social worker faces when trying to find mutual understanding with the ward.
These changes can be divided into three areas.
In intellectual there are difficulties in acquiring new knowledge and ideas, in adapting to unforeseen circumstances. A variety of circumstances can turn out to be difficult: those that were relatively easy to overcome in young years (moving to a new apartment, illness - one's own or someone close to you), especially those that have not been encountered before (the death of a spouse, limited movement, bathroom paralysis; complete or partial loss of vision).
AT emotional sphere - an uncontrolled increase in affective reactions (strong nervous excitement), with a tendency to unreasonable sadness, tearfulness. The reason for the reaction can be a movie about past times (not because it’s a pity for these times, but for yourself in these times) or a broken tea cup (and again, it’s not a pity for the cup, but for the fact that something memorable leaves with it). In moral sphere - refusal to adapt to new norms of morality, manners of behavior. A sharp, rude critique of these norms and manners. Hence, intolerance arises in relations with young people.
And yet, noticing all the changes in various characteristic areas, a social worker simply does not have the right to act as a judge or teacher who condemn certain actions or statements. You can not transfer the methods of communication with children to the elderly, these people have a long life behind them with their ups and downs, which determined the changes that occurred in their characters. Older people have their own subculture belonging to their generation, different from the culture that is characteristic of young people. It is fundamentally important that the ward trust the social worker, be sure that his statements will not be criticized. Criticism can be perceived by an older person as humiliation and destroy the atmosphere of trust.
Old age is a kind of psychological crisis.
But this is not the only crisis experienced by a person in his entire life, but one of many. American psychologist Eric Erickson named eight psychosocial crises that a person faces on his life path. Each of them is specific to a certain age.
Eighth Crisis This is an old age crisis. We will talk about it in more detail. People enter old age differently, depending on how they came out of the previous seven psychosocial crises.
In her theory of human development, the French psychologist Charlotte Buhler distinguishes five phases of development; the last, fifth, phase begins at the age of 65-70. The author believes that during this period, many people stop pursuing the goals that they set for themselves in their youth. The remaining forces they spend on leisure, quietly living in recent years.
At the same time, they review their lives, experiencing satisfaction or disappointment.
A neurotic person usually experiences disappointment, because a neurotic does not know how to rejoice in success at all, he is never satisfied with his achievements, it always seems to him that he did not receive something, that he was not given something. With age, these doubts intensify.
Let us recall the last line of Firs from Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard: “They forgot about me ... Life has passed, as if it had never lived ... I don’t have Silushka, there’s nothing left ... Oh, you ... clumsy!”
Eighth Crisis (E. Erickson) or fifth phase (Sh. Bu-ler) mark the end of the previous life path, and the resolution of this crisis depends on how this path was traveled. A person sums up, and if he perceives life as an integrity, where neither subtract nor add, then he is balanced and calmly looks into the future, as he understands that death is the natural end of life. We must not forget, do not take into account that for an old person the prospect of death is so close that it becomes, in the literal sense, physically tangible. The thought of the inevitability of imminent death causes depression, and the latter, in turn, irritability, outbursts of anger, up to aggression, or, conversely, apathy. It is difficult for a social worker, who is always many years younger than the ward, to understand such a state and mood of an old person.
The prospect of death for an elderly person is very real, this is a difficult and painful area, it is rather difficult for a person of mature age to understand this feeling, because for him such a problem simply does not exist for the time being. When communicating with a person, one should not make a mournful face and utter a lot of compassionate phrases; this approach does not calm the person, but, on the contrary, stimulates new sad memories and experiences. Empathy should not "rub salt in the wounds" with inappropriate questions.
That is why empathy is so important - an integral quality of a social worker. Probably, in order to morally "approach" the client, one must remember one's own state in the event of losses that are not necessarily associated with death. The task of a social worker, if not to inspire optimism, then at least, as far as possible, is to neutralize pessimism.
Domestic scientist V. V. Boltenko identified a number of stages of psychological aging, which, in principle, are little dependent on a specific passport age. More important than this age is the time of retirement.
At the first stage there is a connection with the type of activity that was leading for a person before retirement. As a rule, this type of activity was directly related to the pensioner's profession. More often these are people of intellectual labor (scientists, artists, teachers, doctors). This connection can be direct, in the form of episodic participation in the performance of the previous work, or indirect, through reading specialized literature, writing articles on professional topics. If the connection breaks immediately after retirement, then the person, bypassing the first stage, falls into the second.
At the second stage there is a narrowing of the circle of interests due to the loss of professional attachments. In communication with others, conversations on everyday topics, discussion of television news, family events, successes or failures of children and grandchildren already predominate. In these groups of people it is already difficult to distinguish who was an engineer, who was a doctor, who was a professor of philosophy.
At the third stage personal health is paramount. Favorite topic of conversation - medicines, methods of treatment, herbs... Both in newspapers and in TV programs special attention is paid to these topics. The most significant person in life becomes the district doctor, his professional and personal qualities.
At the fourth stage the meaning of life becomes the preservation of life itself. The circle of communication is narrowed to the limit: the attending physician, social worker, family members who support the pensioner's personal comfort, neighbors of the closest distance. For decency or out of habit - rare telephone conversations with old acquaintances of the same age, mainly to find out how many more they managed to survive.
On the fifth stage there is an exposure of needs of a purely vital nature (food, rest, sleep). Emotion and communication are almost absent.
In gerontology, the term is often used "involution" (reverse development) to denote the processes of physical and psychological atrophy during aging.
The American psychologist A. Maslow created the theory of the hierarchy of needs and self-realization, which he came to by studying the biographies of great people. According to Maslow, a person, as it were, rises up the steps, from physiological needs - to the needs for security and self-preservation, from here - to the needs for love and recognition, higher - for self-esteem and, finally, the top - the need for self-actualization. Each epoch sets its own height for such a peak. And, just as alpinists choose different peaks for climbing, so in life each person has his own choice of peaks. Not everyone manages to get to the upper steps in a lifetime, but old age sets in, and you have to go down the stairs. Happy are those who overcome the summit! At the same time, retirement is not yet a signal for a descent. When ascending, speed is important, and when descending, on the contrary, braking, the longer a person lingers on each step during the descent, the more prosperous his position.
Many people equate leisure with doing nothing, and this is their mistake. American psychological society in a special report on the problems of employment and forced idleness of old people, argues that the lack of employment for people who have retired is most directly related to their separation from society. It is a mistake to assume that the well-being and prospects of old people are due to leisure, by which they mean freedom from occupations or duties.
Unemployment appears in old people as a result of a decrease in vital activity and energy. Society can release a person from obligations, but not in relation to himself. In this case, the external social factors of behavior fade into the background for the old person, and their own internal needs come to the fore.
No matter what step of the hierarchical ladder, high or low, a person of advanced age is, he is constantly pursued by a gloomy griffin, plunging its claws into the very soul. The name of this monster is "uselessness".
Can be distinguished male and female types behavior in the conditions of the loss of "own consumer value", when a person is unclaimed. But that does not mean that all men behave according to the "male" type, and women - according to the "female", sometimes it happens, as at masquerade balls: women acquire a "male" type, men - "female ".
Most women cope with their own uselessness with their humility and resourcefulness. Family women hide from her in the endless household chores. The lonely unite to become useful to each other and collectively defend themselves. Men, on the other hand, enter into a desperate confrontation, often seeking salvation in other phantoms and ghosts, which are supposedly able to prove their usefulness. For an ordinary pensioner, such an illusory argument for the expediency of existence can be the receipt of a letter - even from the house management, even from the society for the protection of cats from dogs. They assert themselves by nit-picking at home, speaking at meetings, and if there are no meetings, then shouting at rallies, in extreme cases - on the tram. Another "masculine" way to demonstrate their "non-fading youth" - women.
The contingent of wards of social assistance centers, these islands for singles, is represented mainly by women, which, in general, is quite understandable given the difference in life expectancy between men and women that exists in our country. A surprisingly different observation is that widowed men experience their condition much more strongly than women. And the point is not that it is easier for a man to get rid of loneliness by entering into new union, but in the fact that we are used to considering men less emotional, more restrained in their feelings, etc.
The question, of course, is not in the emotional mood, but in the ability to adapt. Men are more difficult to adapt to a new state. Loss of a job, retirement for them is sometimes no less a mental trauma than the loss of a spouse, no matter how blasphemous it sounds. The difference in life expectancy between men and women implicitly prepares a woman for the widow's lot, for entry into the community of widows. A widower man is a rare phenomenon; he, like a bird with one wing, is completely unadapted to life. The only way out of the situation (apart from the possibility of entering into new marriage) is to accept women's rules of conduct. Women usually compensate for the loss by directing all their attention, all their sensuality to children. Among male widowers, those who have a daughter and the opportunity to join her family adapt more easily. A grandfather, who previously had difficulty distinguishing the purpose of a diaper from an oilcloth, can become an excellent nanny for his beloved grandchildren.
One of the points of the professional characteristics of a social worker is the availability of initial medical training. A social worker cannot and should not replace a doctor, but he must have elementary ideas about the nature of various diseases, about methods for their prevention, about methods of caring for a sick person - about everything that can alleviate the situation of the patient. He should orient the client to which specialist doctor should be contacted about this or that ailment. All this is of particular relevance when working with the elderly.
Unfortunately, the elderly themselves are ready to attribute many pain due to age and therefore often go to the doctor when the disease is already running. It is possible that with a more widespread network social assistance social workers will actively "push" their clients to preventive examinations.
Suspiciousness is sometimes a manifestation of obsessive states, when a person himself is aware of the absurdity of his fears, but cannot get rid of them. Moreover, such a condition is not necessarily a symptom of a disease, fears can haunt a completely healthy person, in psychiatry they are called "phobias". A special group is nosophobia- obsessive fear of some disease. Naturally, older people have such fears more often: they suddenly discover in themselves signs of a disease from which their parents or one of their close relatives died. The fear of heart disease is called cardiophobia, oncological − cancerophobia. Perhaps one should introduce the concept speedophobia. Fear of death in general thanatophobia. In getting rid of such fears, a psychologist or social worker who owns psychological tools can help.
However, if a person is convinced (or was convinced) that all health troubles are explained by advanced age, then he is unlikely to have a desire to be treated. Even Seneca, an ancient philosopher, said: “One of the conditions for recovery is the desire to recover.”
I would like to draw attention to one sad sign of our difficult times. In connection with the destabilization of life, the abundance of stressful situations, the deterioration of life support conditions and environmental problems, there is an acceleration of the aging process, pathologies inherent in older age are detected at earlier stages, on the distant approaches to old age. Unfortunately, many health troubles apply not only to the elderly, but also to middle-aged people.
Relatives of an elderly person are simply obliged to know about possible senile psychosis, dementia. A social worker should talk about mental pathologies of old age and explain them. This knowledge will help to be kind and tolerant of the misfortune of relatives and strangers who have outlived their own mind. Even in "Do-bridge" it is said: “If ... a father or mother becomes impoverished in mind in old age, do not dishonor them, do not reproach them, then your children will honor you and you.” A social worker, in no case, has the right to take upon himself the formulation of a particular diagnosis, his duty is to invite a specialist.
One of the founders of Russian psychology, B. G. Ananiev , explained that the paradox of human life lies in the fact that for many people “dying” occurs much earlier than physical decrepitude. This condition is observed in those people who, of their own free will, begin to isolate themselves from society, which leads to "Narrowing the volume of personal properties, to the deformation of the personality structure." Compared to centenarians who retain their identity, “Some “beginning” pensioners at the age of 60-65 seem immediately decrepit, suffering from the resulting vacuum and a sense of social inferiority.” From this age, a dramatic period begins for them. the death of the individual.
And the conclusion that the scientist makes: “The sudden blocking of all the potentials of a person’s ability to work and talent with the cessation of many years of work cannot but cause deep restructuring in the structure of a person as a subject of activity, and therefore the personality.”
A person living alone and a lonely person are not the same thing. On the contrary, a person who lives in a large family or in a crowded hostel can be lonely and suffering from loneliness. These are the so-called "loneliness in the family" and "loneliness in the crowd." In addition, introverts love silence and solitude, feel the need to be alone with themselves after they had to visit people, they are annoyed by too sociable people (extroverts). Consequently, not all lonely people suffer, a certain type of people cherishes and cherishes their isolation.
Loneliness, according to psychologists, is not measured by the distance separating one person from another, it is due to the presence or absence of a “soul mate”. And this is not necessarily a person who always says “yes” to you.
It has become a kind of stamp to add the definition of "lonely" to the word "old people". Internship students of the Russian State Social University (RSSU), examining those attached to social assistance centers (as you know, these people are exceptionally lonely), did not meet anyone who would admit that they suffer from loneliness. How do you explain such a phenomenon? Most likely, such a confession seemed shameful for the old people. Moreover, it would be completely unacceptable to tell “children” about this (namely, this is how older people perceive students). But most of the respondents were, of course, sincere.
The social worker, as a professional, is obliged to guarantee complete confidentiality to the ward, under no circumstances to make intimately received information a subject for discussion with other clients.
There is another way to mitigate loneliness. This is communion with animals.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania claim that pet owners "humanize" their pets. According to scientists, this has a positive effect on a person's self-esteem and, ultimately, on his health. It is believed that such communication reduces the risk of heart attacks. According to the study, 94% talk to animals “like a person”, and 81% are convinced that their pets understand them and feel the mood of their owners.
Psychiatrist M. McCulloch, who was the first to study the influence of animals on the human psyche, as a result of a survey, came to the conclusion that pets make a person calmer and more balanced, and for some people who have suffered serious mental shocks, such “four-legged healers "It is simply necessary to appoint. However, you need to know the measure, since some elderly give birth to so many cats or dogs that it already becomes more of a mental disorder. Most often these are people who are disappointed in human communication. Therefore, they have a tender love for animals combined with a dislike for people.
Aging, like loneliness, is the identification of feelings a person has for himself. They manifest themselves in different ways: in a deliberately shuffling gait, in clothes, in self-deprecating remarks, such as: "I hate to look in the mirror, I see an old monkey there." It depends on the elderly person himself to what extent these feelings capture him, how much he submits to them, whether they become stronger than all other human feelings.
Erotic feelings(do not confuse with sexual ones!) make both men and women take care of their appearance, maintain their sexual identity and attractiveness, masculinity or femininity. Chichikov, seeing Plyushkin, could not understand who was in front of him, and mistook the old man for a woman. A real man, even in his dying hour, will try to be carefully shaved. Actress Lyubov Orlova asked to be buried in her favorite dress, because she looks good in it.
Self-esteem demands that even in old age he independently cope with all affairs and thus defend his independence. Such a person, as long as he has at least some strength, does not seek anyone's support and help, he tries to be useful and necessary to someone.
Love , the strongest of all feelings, whether it is love for a spouse, children, grandchildren, other people, relatives by blood or spirit, pushes back aging, relieves loneliness, gives mental and physical strength.
And even in the very feeling of aging there is not only go-speech, but also charm. It is given to experience only to those who have passed through all life's trials with honor and lived to old age. Sage of antiquity Seneca , by the standards of his time - a long-liver (he lived 70 years), with knowledge of the matter assured: “Old age is full of pleasures, you just need to know how to use them.”
English word "stress" means pressure, pressure, tension. Stress is a disease that everyone experiences, therefore, it is no longer a disease, but a characteristic feature of the well-being of people in the 20th century.
The discoverer of stress is called Hans Selye, a world-famous biologist who is the founder and first director of the International Institute of Stress.
Any overwork is stress, and for the body it doesn’t matter what it is caused by - success or failure. The body reacts stereotypically, with the same biochemical changes, "the purpose of which, writes Selye, cope with the increased demands on the human machine" . It would be naivety to believe that there was a stress-free time in the past. Naturally, there were blows and gifts of fate. But it is the 20th century. made tension a system and everyday life. The human machine cannot stand it and begins to falter, or even breaks down.
Stress manifests itself in the field of psyche and physiology as a response to increased irritation. The human immune system resists the possibility of infection of the body, protects it from other diseases, but it has long been noticed that touchy people (and they are more easily stressed) have a lowered immune response. This feature should be paid attention to older people, because at this age people suffer from increased resentment.
persuasion type "don't worry...", "don't worry..." ineffective and tantamount to appeals: “Adrenaline, don’t stand out!”, “Pressure, don’t rise!”. For a neurotic personality, and among pensioners their percentage is quite large, these remarks themselves are already perceived as a signal of stress. For our pensioner, stress can arise from the sound of words "pension", "rent", "robbery" and many others. Participants in the war, if they really participated in military operations, do not like to return to memories of this time, to watch films about the war.
They instinctively fear stress, even those who have never heard of it. Here are quotes from the passionate and truthful book by Svetlana Aleksievich "War has a non-female face."
“When I tell you everything that happened, I will again not be able to live like everyone else. I will become sick. I came from the war alive, only wounded, but I was sick for a long time, I was sick until I told myself that all this must be forgotten, or I will never recover.(Lyubov Zakharovna Novik, foreman, medical instructor).
“No, no, I don’t want to remember ... Nerves are nowhere. I still can’t watch war films ... "(Maria Ivanovna Morozova, corporal, sniper).
Trio stress− symptom− disease is in close interaction and has the ability to mutual transformation. At the same time, not every stress is a precursor to illness, just as not every serving of ice cream is followed by a sore throat. It all depends on the general state of health, on the readiness of the body to fight and win. Stress itself has both physical and emotional signs, which can also turn into a disease.
Insomnia, pain in the chest, abdomen, back, neck, chronic fatigue are physical signs, and irritability, frequent tears and unreasonable panic are emotional. Stress changes human behavior, causes abuse of alcohol, smoking, drugs.
By the end of the day, an elderly person sometimes accumulates such irritation and unresolved stress that it is worth dimming the light, and the faces of a liar saleswoman, a rude passer-by, a snarky neighbor, or something worse will be seen.
Such a person should be advised to learn to enjoy his own restraint: “I was deceived, offended, rude, bitten, but I just smiled and didn’t react, but saved my nerves, kept normal pressure. I'm fine fellow!". Such “complacency” − the right way avoid insomnia. Hundreds of small skirmishes unsettle much more than one major nuisance. If you mentally, and better in writing, determine the reasons that acted so badly and did not allow you to fall asleep, put all these disgusting little things separately, on the shelves, then it turns out that each of them in itself is not worth a damned egg and, especially a sleepless night.
Insomnia, like the weather, often becomes a topic for starting a conversation with older people, they are even proud of it, as a special mark, they try to outdo each other, who has it stronger. It can even cause an older couple to fight over who stayed up the longest last night. Insomnia can explain a bad mood, grouchiness, inattention, absent-mindedness, you can evade the performance of any duties. Insomnia is "very intelligent", not like any disease. It is decent to talk about insomnia at the table and on the bench - such is the old coquetry. This phenomenon of taking advantage of unpleasantness is what psychologists call "secondary benefit".
So, in order to defeat insomnia, you need to defeat yourself: adherence to the regime, an active physical and mental lifestyle, giving up bad habits and a caring (even reverent) attitude towards your own sleep.
In order to identify the causes and consequences of stress, they need to hire themselves as “private detectives” for some time and carefully monitor (and record) what events and even thoughts cause stress, record all its signs. All this is purely individual, because another person may have completely different reactions. Having compiled a "dossier", you can start the fight, guided by the fact that any disease is easier to prevent than to defeat. That's why Scripture says: "Before you get sick, get well"(Sir. 18, 19).
Another feature of the appearance and influence of stress: it happens more often in women than in men, but women cope with it more easily and quickly adapt to its effects. Some experts believe that the secret of such endurance of the fairer sex is that they know how to discharge their emotions with tears, and even tantrums. Men are commanded to always be strong and it is believed that crying is a sign of weakness. Women can cry and this is a subconscious way to relieve overwhelming stress.
Tears, according to scientists, contain not only ions of sodium, potassium and other salts, but also an excess of adrenaline, which, as you know, causes constriction of most blood vessels, increases heart contractions, changes heart rate, increases blood pressure. nie. Consequently, women, giving vent to emotions, on an instinctive level, protect themselves from serious troubles provoked by stress.
With all that, women themselves often act as if "virus carriers" of stress. Stress is as contagious as the flu. If one of the family members gets sick, then he can pass it on to the whole family. Particularly dangerous in this regard are those who constantly work with a large number of people: saleswomen, transport drivers, teachers, and others. A deep meaning lies in the old tale that the whole family can relax and improve their health for one sanatorium voucher, sending the eldest representative of the family on it. This is not necessarily a mother-in-law: mothers-in-law are not much inferior to them in spreading stress.
By the way, do not forget that a joke, humor are the masters of a good mood and one of the most powerful stress relievers. People who lack a sense of humor suffer from stress much more often and more than those who are always ready to laugh at themselves, their troubles and ailments.
In his book Laughter Is a Serious Matter, the philosopher John Morill explains this phenomenon as follows: “A person with a sense of humor does not feel calmer in a stressful situation, he just has a flexible approach to resolving it.”
Another well-known philosopher and writer, Arthur Kessler, who did not consider laughter a serious matter, meanwhile, wrote: "The only function of laughter is simply to relieve tension."
The Danish scientist Carl Rodal argued: "Three minutes of laughter replaces fifteen minutes of gymnastics."
Elderly people should diligently avoid sad people, depressing movies, dark novels. For the sake of maintaining health and vigor, comedies, jokes, comedians and cheerful interlocutors are much more useful. Supremacy of Duration women's life men are explained not only by the fact that women can cry, but also by the fact that they laugh more often than men. The great French writer Stendhal came to a similar conclusion: "Laughter kills old age."
Sometimes there is an impression of the absolute incompatibility of the elderly and young people.
This problem needs to be discussed so that different generations can understand each other, and the elderly can understand themselves. It happened more than once to read in foreign novels and see in films that, starting from middle age, wealthy people always use the services of psychologists, psychoanalysts, to whom they turn whenever they have difficult life situations. Psychological consultants strive to understand the client, help him see himself from the best side and realize his value as a person. The difficulty of social work with the elderly and old people is that a person at this age can already learn little, the task is to help him discover the vitality and reserves in himself for a worthy meeting of his own old age.
The theory of social work describes in detail the methodology, technique, psychology of the worker's activity and is silent about the norms of the client's behavior, as if we are talking about a complete "nonsense". The International Federation of Social Workers has developed a Code of Ethics for itself, but it does not contain a word about the ethics of the so-called "mentee".
Without claiming to draw up the Client's Code of Ethics, we will try to formulate the meaning of some provisions.
When concluding a service agreement, the client must certify the Center that he observes approximately the following points of conduct:
Respect for the personality of a social worker, understanding that this is not a housekeeper, not a servant, but an authorized representative of the state, extending a helping hand to a person in a difficult situation.
The client makes efforts to implement the professional recommendations of the social worker and other employees of the Center. The client observes a healthy lifestyle, the regimen prescribed for him and the rules of hygienic culture.
The desires of the client must correspond to the physical capabilities of the employee and in no case go beyond the scope of the job description, with the presentation of exorbitant requirements.
The client should, to the extent possible, for his own benefit, try to do as much self-service work as possible. There is an ancient wise parable: “The doctor said to the patient:
− Look there are three of us− me, you and the disease. Therefore, if you are on my side, it will be easier for the two of us to defeat one. But if you go over to her side, I alone will not be able to defeat you both. The same parable can be analogous to the relationship between a social worker and a client. . The social worker, in turn, does not resort to overprotection, excludes the very possibility of a paternalism complex.
The client categorically avoids the command-imperative style of behavior that sharply worsens the psychological climate of the relationship, which is created on the basis of cooperation, the goal of both participants in the relationship, their business alliance is the rehabilitation of the client. Compliance with the instructions for the social worker and the rules of conduct for the client will eliminate or reduce the likelihood of possible conflicts.
Lesson #2
Introduction to gerontology. Anatomical and physiological features of the elderly.
Gerontology is a branch of biology and medicine that studies the patterns of aging of living beings, including humans.
(Greek - "Heron" - an old man + "logos" = teaching).
Gerontology includes the following sections: biology of aging (old age), geriatrics, gerohygiene, gerontopsychology, gerodietetics.
Geriatrics is the study of diseases of the elderly and the elderly.
Gerontology is a branch of gerontology that studies the influence of living conditions on the human aging process and develops measures aimed at preventing pathological aging.
Gerontopsychology is a branch of gerontology that studies the characteristics of the psyche and behavior of elderly and senile people.
The beginning of scientific gerontology is usually associated with the name of the great English philosopher F. Bacon(d.) among the sciences that were not given due attention, was, in his opinion, the science of increasing life expectancy.
In Russia, the problems of old age were dealt with - in 1889 in St. Petersburg, 2240 elderly people were examined. The survey allowed us to conclude that old age is a physiological, natural process.
- conducted an experimental study of aging, put forward an autointoxication theory of aging associated with bowel function.
- believed that the leading mechanisms of aging are determined age-related changes connective tissue.
(1985) - created the adaptive-regular theory of aging. In the course of aging, there is a parallel process vitaukta(vita - life, auctum - increase), stabilizing the vital activity of the organism, increasing its adaptive capabilities.
Biology of aging.
Old age is a naturally occurring final period of age development (the final period of ontogeny).
Aging is a biological destructive process that inevitably develops with age, leading to a limitation of the body's adaptive capabilities.
The development of aging is characterized by:
heterochrony- the difference in the time of onset of aging of individual organs and tissues (the thymus atrophies at the age of 13-15 years, the gonads - at 48-52 years in women);
heterotopicity- different severity of aging processes for different organs and systems.
Aging is a multicausal process caused by many factors, the action of which is repeated and accumulated throughout life. Among them are stress, diseases, accumulation of free radicals, exposure to xenobiotics (foreign substances), temperature damage, insufficient excretion of protein breakdown products, hypoxia, and others.
Aging is a multifocal process, it occurs in different cell structures: in the nucleus, membranes; in different types cells: nervous, secretory, immune, renal and others.
According to the theory, the rate of age-related changes is determined by the ratio of the processes of aging and vitality.
Currently, there are many theories of aging, but the leading importance is given to two:
Aging is a genetically programmed process, the result of the natural development of a program embedded in the genetic apparatus. In this case, the factors environment and the internal environment can affect the rate of aging, but to a small extent. Aging is the result of the destruction of the body due to the inevitable damaging effect of shifts that occur in the course of life itself, i.e., a probabilistic process.
For probabilistic theories of aging, a common feature will be the appearance and accumulation of “errors” in the life of cells or the weakening of their functions (these are some of them):
* free radical theory - aging occurs due to damage caused by free radicals;
* the theory of accumulation of lipofuscin - (senile pigment - a product of protein and fat oxidation), aging is the accumulation of harmful (ballast) substances, as a by-product of metabolism;
* the wear and tear theory of the body - suggests that aging is the result of normal wear and tear, like any physical body from a long existence;
* theory of somatic mutations - aging is the result of somatic mutations due to external and internal factors.
Age groups.
Biological, passport age
In 1958, the Research Institute of Gerontology was established in Kyiv, where the WHO held a congress in 1963, at which the age classification was adopted:
45 - 59 years - mature age
60 - 74 - elderly
75 -89 - senile
more than 90 - centenarians
biological human life expectancy- 95 + - 5 years, (cats - 18 years, hamsters - 3-4 years, dogs - 15 years).
Age types
Passport - chronological = calendar age - the period from birth to the moment of its calculation. It has clear gradations - day, month, goal.
Biological (anatomical and physiological) - characterizes the biological state of the body (its viability, performance). The biological age may not correspond to the calendar (leads or lags behind it).
There are a number of tests to determine biological age.
The more the calendar age is ahead of the biological one, the slower the rate of its aging, the longer its life expectancy should be.
Natural aging is characterized by a certain pace and sequence of age-related changes that correspond to the capabilities of a particular person.
Premature aging - progeria can develop in children (from the first months of life) - death occurs at about 13 years old with all the signs of old age.
Anatomical and physiological features.
Organ system
Signs of aging
Mechanisms of aging
General changes in the body - a decrease in: the total fluid content in the body, muscle mass, intracellular fluid; increase in fat.
The appearance of wrinkles, purpura from microtraumas, wounds on the skin from pressure and their slow healing, dry skin, frequent itching. Hair loss and graying. Weakening of touch.
Atrophy of subcutaneous fat: decrease in skin elasticity, function of sweat and sebaceous glands, increase in vascular fragility, decrease in hair pigment, decrease in the ability of cells to reproduce.
Characterized by senile farsightedness, reduced adaptation to the dark, narrowing of the visual fields.
Change in the elasticity of the lens, the accumulation of lipids in the outer edge of the iris.
Hearing impairment, especially the perception of high-frequency sounds, a decrease in the ability to distinguish sounds (especially on the phone, fast speech), loss of intelligibility of someone else's speech. Decreased sense of balance - dizziness, falls.
Age-related changes in the sound-conducting and sound-perceiving apparatus: osteoporosis of the auditory ossicle, atrophy of the joints between the auditory ossicles, atrophy of the cells of the spiral (Corti) organ, decreased elasticity of the main membrane, atherosclerosis of the vascular system.
Violation of bite, the act of biting and mechanical processing of food in the oral cavity. Deterioration of perception of taste sensations, decrease in the pleasure of eating, dry mouth. Dysphagia is a violation of swallowing. Decreased secretory and absorption function of the gastrointestinal tract. Constipation.
Weakening of the sense of smell: loss of the perception of smells and the ability to distinguish smells.
Reducing the size of the upper jaw, atrophy of the masticatory muscles, loss of teeth. Reducing the number of taste buds by 50%, atrophy of the salivary glands. Weakening of the mobility of the esophagus and dysfunction of the sphincters. Decreased intestinal peristalsis. Decreased antitoxic function of the liver.
Weakening of the function of cells that perceive smell, smoking, and various chemicals.
Respiratory system
Decreased VC, deterioration of bronchial patency, impaired drainage function of the bronchi, decreased cough reflex, decreased general and local immunological reactivity.
Weakening of the elasticity of the lung tissue, a decrease in the number of alveoli, weakening of the respiratory muscles, restriction of chest mobility (the formation of kyphosis).
The cardiovascular system
Decreased myocardial contractility. Decreased vascular plasticity. Deterioration of coronary circulation. An increase in blood pressure and a decrease in venous pressure. Enlargement of the heart.
Reducing the number of myocardial cells, atrophy and sclerosis. Sclerotic thickening of vessels (aorta, arteries). Reducing the number of functioning capillaries. The value of the minute volume of the heart decreases, since the heart rate decreases.
urinary system
Decreased filtration and reabsorption. Increased urge to urinate. stress urinary incontinence
The number of nephrons decreases by 1/3 - 1/2 due to age-related nephrological sclerosis. The wall of the bladder thickens, weakening the tone of the sphincters. Reducing the volume of the bladder.
Endocrine
Menopause, vaginal atrophy. Decreased libido in men, potency. Decreased basal metabolism. An increase in blood sugar levels.
Decrease in sex hormones (rapidly in women, gradually in men). Decreased levels of thyroid hormones. Decreased production of insulin.
Musculoskeletal system
Decreased height, muscle strength and mass. The formation of kyphosis (hump). Osteoporosis - reduction in bone mass - a tendency to fracture. Joint ossification and inflammation.
Decrease (atrophy) of muscles. Rachiocampsis. A decrease in the content of minerals in the bones (by the age of 60, the density in men is 70%, and in women - 60% of normal). Calcification of cartilage, their destruction with loss of moisture. Increased ossification of the tendons.
Osteoporosis
This is a decrease in bone density as a result of a decrease in the amount of bone substance calcium.
Decreased memory, decreased ability to learn
Brain atrophy due to neuronal death. Deterioration cerebral circulation. Narrowing of the cranial vessels. Decreased orthostatic reflexes. Reduced sensitivity to temperature changes. Decreased feelings of thirst and desire to drink. Decreased function of the spinal cord.
The volume of blood practically does not change. The tendency to decrease in erythrocytes and Hb. Decreased leukocyte reaction in inflammatory processes. With blood loss and stress, the adaptive capabilities of the system are sharply reduced.
The volume of the bone marrow decreases (it is replaced by adipose and connective tissue) - at the age of 70 - the hematopoietic tissue of the bone marrow is 30%.
immune
Increased susceptibility to infections and malignant growth. Impaired immune response.
Decreased cellular immunity. Decreased T-lymphocytes (thymus atrophy). Decreased production of primary antibodies.
Questions for self-preparation for the lesson
Topic section
Literature
Installation instruction
Questions for self-control
Introduction to gerontology.
Materials for lessons.
Materials for lessons.
Materials for lessons.
Materials for lessons.
Materials for lessons.
Learn the definitions of "old age", "aging".
Have an idea about the founders of gerontology and theories of aging.
Answer the task for self-control.
Learn the age criteria according to the WHO classification.
Answer questions for self-control.
Define the terms "old age", "aging".
List the names of the founders of gerontology.
What theories of aging do you know? Describe them.
Define gerontology, geriatrics, gerohygiene, gerontopsychology.
What are the age criteria for mature, elderly, senile ages.
What is biological and passport age?
Name the types of aging.
AFO of elderly and senile people.
Stages of human life and medical services in different age periods: A textbook for medical students. schools and colleges, etc. . Ed. Academy 2002
Chapter 6.5 page
Materials for lessons. Lesson number 2.
Know the AFO of the elderly and senile age.
Describe AFO:
Gastrointestinal tract
Respiratory system
changes in the cardiovascular system
urinary system
endocrine system
Musculoskeletal system
Central nervous system
Blood and immune systems
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………3
Chapter 1. The aging process and age-related changes in the body
1.1 The concept of mental aging…………………………………………5
1.2 Changes in a person as an individual occurring in old and senile age……………………………………………………………..8
Chapter 2
2.1 Psychological portrait of an old person……………………………..12
2.2 Classification of mental changes in old age and types of psychological aging……………………………………………………… 13
2.3 Types of personality adaptation to old age………………………………18
Chapter 3
3.1 The main stressors of the elderly and senile people and ways to overcome them………………………………………………………………………..22
3.2 healthy image life as a factor of longevity………………………….24
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………35
List of sources………………………………………………………………37
INTRODUCTION
One of the demographic features on planet Earth is aging its population (especially in the highly developed countries of the world). It is determined by many factors, the main of which is a clear trend towards a reduction in the birth rate in developed countries. Ideas about the age of 50-60 years as the age of old age have sunk into oblivion. Mortality at this age today, at the beginning of the 21st century, has fallen four times compared to the end of the 18th century; mortality among 70-year-olds has recently halved. For a modern person after retirement, the reality of living an average of another 15-20 years has become quite obvious.
What can be the life of a person during this period? Decay, extinction, illness, infirmity, disability, etc.? Or, on the contrary, the opportunity to lead a full-fledged (taking into account the changed realities), interesting life: work to the best of your ability, try to be needed by your loved ones, friends, accepting your own old age as the next stage of life, which has its own joys and its own problems (as well as at previous stages of life)?
Today, two generations most acutely feel the consequences of socio-economic transformations: they are people of mature and old age. Economic troubles act for them in a very concrete form of the king of famine, about which N. Nekrasov once wrote. In order to live, and not survive, especially older people, they need knowledge and skills to establish social communications, in order to realize the forces of life that they still feel in themselves. This requires deep, deep work on yourself. Samples of extraordinary capacity for work and creativity are demonstrated by people of a very advanced age. After 70 years, many well-known scientists worked successfully - P. Lamarck, M. Euler, K. Laplace, G. Galileo, Im. Kant and others. Pavlov created "Twenty Years' Experience" at the age of 73, and "Lectures on the work of the cerebral hemispheres" at the age of 77 (and in total Ivan Petrovich Pavlov lived for 87 years).
But life also shows that in old and late age a person can be deeply unhappy, lonely, be a "burden" for loved ones, "annoyance" for young people, and even experience cruelty to himself both in the family and in the state. social institution.
How to help a person in old age avoid all these problems and try to live more calmly and joyfully - these are the questions that interest me in this work.
Target of this work - consideration of the psychological characteristics of the elderly.
Work tasks :
1. Make a psychological portrait of an old person.
2. Designate a range of age-related changes in the body of an elderly person.
3. Write down an exemplary prevention of aging.
Chapter 1. THE AGING PROCESS AND AGE CHANGES IN THE BODY
1.1 The concept of mental aging
Old age- this is the final phase in human development, in which this process takes place along a descending life curve. In other words, in the life of a person from a certain age, involutionary signs appear, which is already expressed in appearance an old person, a decrease in his vital activity, limited physical capabilities.
Old age can approach a person in two ways: through the physiological weakening of the body and through a decrease in the strength and mobility of mental processes.
In old age, there is a natural and obligatory decrease in strength, a limitation of physical capabilities. These involutionary processes also concern mental activity, which is expressed in various mental states that are not accompanied by dementia, and then they speak of mental decline.
In his monograph Mental Aging, N.F. Shakhmatov defines it as a case of natural aging, in which there is a decrease in mental strength, a narrowing of the volume of mental life, and an economical use of available resources.
Manifestations of physical decline find their expression in limiting the range of interests, passivity, mental lethargy. But the time of its manifestation, the rate of progression, severity and depth are different. As N.F. Shakhmatov, the appearance of noticeable signs of mental decline can be attributed mainly to the time of the end of life (85 years and older.)
Mental weakness, a decrease in the strength and mobility of mental processes during mental decline in old age are closely related to the factor of physical health. Strengthening of physical health, recovery from somatic diseases quickly lead to the revival of mental life in old age.
The other extreme point is held by researchers who tend to praise the "charm of old age." In these people, physical weakening is compensated by a high spiritual upsurge. Therefore, the period preceding the onset of old age and senile malaise is called " best years". This is what is meant when they talk about happy old age.
happy old age is a particularly favorable form of aging. Happy old age is contentment new life, their role in this life. This is a form of favorable mental aging when long life brings new positive emotions that a person did not know in the past.
L.N. Tolstoy said: "I never thought that old age was so attractive."
And, finally, the third group of researchers finds both negative and positive features in old age.
When characterizing mental aging, it is necessary to take into account some positive changes that are compensatory or adaptive in the new conditions of life. So, along with a decrease in the level of mental activity, qualitative changes are noted that contribute to overcoming and balancing this decrease, the achievement of a structural unity of deficient signs of aging with positive or compensatory ones. This indicates the ability to adapt to new living conditions in old age. When studying the abilities of old people aged 60 to 93, it was found that they use the structure of their experience, drawing elements from it to keep existing knowledge at the proper level and to process it into new knowledge. Old people can greatly develop some of their abilities and even show new ones.
1.2 Changes in a person as an individual occurring in old and old age
The aging process is a genetically programmed process, accompanied by certain age-related changes in the body. In the period of human life after maturity, there is a gradual weakening of the body's activity. Older people are not as strong and not able, as in their younger years, to withstand prolonged physical or nervous stress; their total energy supply is getting smaller and smaller; the vitality of body tissues is lost, which is closely related to a decrease in their fluid content. As a result of this dehydration, the joints of older people harden. If this occurs in the bony joints of the chest, then breathing becomes difficult. Age-related dehydration leads to drying of the skin, it becomes more sensitive to irritations and sunburn, itching appears in places, the skin loses its matte tint. Drying of the skin, in turn, inhibits perspiration, which regulates the surface temperature of the body. Due to the weakening of the sensitivity of the nervous system, the elderly and old people react slowly to changes in external temperature and are therefore more susceptible to the adverse effects of heat and cold. There are changes in the sensitivity of various sense organs, the external manifestations of which are expressed in a weakening of the sense of balance, uncertainty in gait, loss of appetite, a need for brighter illumination of space, etc. Here are some examples: people over 50 need twice as much light, and people over 80 need three times; in a 20-year-old person, the wound heals on average in 31 days, at 40 years old - in 55 days, at 60 years old - in 100 days, and then progressively.
Many studies testify to the aging of the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, nervous and other systems, i.e. about negative shifts in the organism in the process of its involution. At the same time, materials are accumulating that lead scientists to understand aging as an extremely complex, internally contradictory process, which is characterized not only by a decrease, but also by an increase in the activity of the body.
All changes in the body during aging are individual. There are people who retain a very high rate of latent (hidden) time of speech reaction until a very old age; the difference in the direction of better or worse can be twentyfold.
A man in the period of his withering is subject to developing atherosclerosis in him, which causes a general weakening (decrease) in vital activity. A metabolic disorder caused by a reduction in the amount of hormones produced by the gonads leads to muscle weakness, which is so typical for men at this age. This is often accompanied by general decrepitude and loss of interest in life.
Starting from the age of 50-55, the functions of the nervous system of a man are disturbed to an even greater extent than at a previous age. First of all, this is manifested in a reduced ability to respond to stimuli. Along with them, there are signs of memory impairment. The central nervous system, primarily the cerebral cortex, controls all the functions of the body - from the motor apparatus to the most complex internal organs; All this cannot but have a negative impact on the activity. All of the above applies equally to the work of the endocrine glands (thyroid, pancreas, adrenal glands, etc.) and to metabolism in general, which, starting from the age of 45-50, gradually weakens.
This affects primarily the work of the cardiovascular system. If in people from 40 to 50 years old, heart disease causes 25% of all deaths, then at the age of 50 to 60 years old it reaches 40%, from 60 to 70 years old - 52%, from 70 to 80 years old it already reaches 62 %, and at the age of 80 to 90 years is 66% of all deaths.
In men, atherosclerosis is found much more often than in women. The development of atherosclerosis is promoted by diabetes mellitus, which is becoming more common in modern world. Atherosclerosis is the transformation of the elastic fibers of the blood vessels into more rigid fibers, with the deposition of salts, which turns the arteries into rigid tubes with an ever-decreasing lumen.
A heart attack affects men more often than women, and usually after the age of 50, although heart attacks are not uncommon in younger people.
Angina pectoris (angina pectoris) affects men 4 times more often than women. It most often occurs between the ages of 50 and 60. Its cause is atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels, leading to a narrowing of the lumen of the arteries. Short-term, but strong spasms of the coronary vessels, this is angina pectoris, an attack lasts 10-20 minutes, then the pain goes away, the feeling of squeezing lets go. In this regard, you should lead a sparing lifestyle in order to avoid a heart attack, under this condition, patients with angina pectoris live a long time.
As atherosclerosis spreads, a dangerous and severe disease, a stroke (stroke), is increasingly noted. The cause of this disease is a sudden blockage of the arteries of the brain, the brain is left without life-giving arterial blood and begins to die. If the focus of necrosis is extensive and includes vital brain centers, then death occurs quickly. In milder cases, the consequences of a stroke are paralysis, usually of some half of the body, of varying severity.
Atherosclerosis of the lower extremities is a highly male disease. Its signs are pain and frequent cramps in the calves of the legs; a person gets tired very quickly when walking, at the moment of walking he may experience such severe pain in the calves that he is forced to stop and rest. After a while, the pain goes away, and you can go, then everything repeats. This is mainly a disease of male smokers, which often ends in amputation. These are the consequences of atherosclerosis, and this is not all, there are a lot of them.
Hypertension affects men more often than women; in the 6th decade of life, up to 30% of people suffer from it. This disease more often affects people who are responsible, energetic, active, who can and want to do their job in a worthy manner. It is they who find themselves in a situation of chronic stress because of their sense of responsibility and the need to implement it.
Thus, various kinds of changes in a person as an individual, occurring in the elderly and senile age, are aimed at actualizing the potential, reserve capabilities accumulated in the body during the period of growth, maturity and formed during the period of late ontogenesis. At the same time, the participation of the individual in the preservation of the individual organization and the regulation of its further development during the period of gerogenesis should increase.
Further changes during the period of gerogenesis depend on the degree of maturity of a particular person as a person and subject of activity.
Chapter 2. PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE PERSONALITY OF THE OLD PERSON
2.1 Psychological portrait of an old person
What can be said about the changes in the personality of an old person? What can be attributed to typical manifestations? Most often, negative, negative characteristics are named, from which such a psychological “portrait” of an old person could turn out. Decreased self-esteem, self-doubt, dissatisfaction with oneself; fear of loneliness, helplessness, impoverishment, death; gloom, irritability, pessimism; a decrease in interest in the new - hence the grumbling, grouchiness; closing interests on oneself - selfishness, self-centeredness, increased attention to one's body; uncertainty about the future - all this makes old people petty, stingy, overcautious, pedantic, conservative, low-initiative, etc.
Fundamental studies of domestic and foreign scientists testify to the diverse manifestations of the positive attitude of the old person to life, to people, to himself.
K.I. Chukovsky wrote in his diary: "... I never knew that it was so joyful to be an old man, that not a day - my thoughts are kinder and brighter." Researcher of personality changes in old age N.F. Shakhmatov, characterizing the symptoms of mental decline and mental illness, disorders, believes that “the idea of mental aging cannot be complete and complete without taking into account favorable cases that better than any other options characterize aging inherent only in humans. These options, whether labeled as lucky, successful, favorable, and finally happy, reflect their advantageous position in comparison with other forms of mental aging.
2.2 Classification of mental changes in old age and types of psychological aging
All changes at this age can be classified into three areas:
1. In intellectual- there are difficulties in acquiring new knowledge and ideas, in adapting to unforeseen circumstances. A wide variety of circumstances can turn out to be difficult: those that were relatively easy to overcome in youth (moving to a new apartment, an illness of one’s own or someone close to you), especially those that have not been encountered before (the death of one of the spouses, limited movement caused by paralysis; complete or partial loss of vision.)
2. In the emotional realm- uncontrolled increase in affective reactions (strong nervous excitement) with a tendency to unreasonable sadness, tearfulness. The reason for the reaction may be a movie about past times or a broken cup.
In her theory of development, the French psychologist Charlotte Buhler distinguishes five phases of development; the last, fifth phase begins at the age of 65-70. The author believes that during this period, many people stop pursuing the goals that they set for themselves in their youth. The remaining forces they spend on leisure, quietly living the last years. At the same time, they review their life, experiencing satisfaction or disappointment. A neurotic person usually experiences disappointment, because a neurotic does not know how to rejoice at success at all, he is never satisfied with his achievements, it always seems to him that he did not receive something, that he was not given enough. With age, these doubts intensify.
The eighth crisis (E. Erickson) or the fifth phase (Sch. Buhler) marks the end of the previous life path, and the resolution of this crisis depends on how this path was passed. A person sums up, and if he perceives life as an integrity, where neither subtract nor add, then he is balanced and calmly looks into the future, as he understands that death is the natural end of life. If a person comes to the sad conclusion that life was lived in vain and consisted of disappointments and mistakes, now irreparable, then he is overtaken by a feeling of powerlessness. The fear of death comes.
Psychologists say that the fear of death is a purely human feeling, not a single animal has this. That is why it can be overcome. Philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle, sought to overcome the tragedy of death, to free a person from the fear of it. The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus gave a simple and witty argument against the fear of death: “Death does not really exist for a person, he “does not meet” with it. As long as it exists, there is no death. When it is, it is not. Therefore, she should not be afraid.
Francis Bacon remarked on the same occasion: “People are afraid of death, like small children, a descendant ... But the fear of it as an inevitable given to nature is a weakness.”
Pekk (an American psychologist), developing Erickson's ideas about the eighth crisis, speaks of the sub-crises of this period.
The first- reassessment of one's own "I" regardless of professional career. That is, a person must first of all determine for himself what place he occupies in life after retirement, when uniforms, titles and positions are discarded as unnecessary.
Second- awareness of the fact of deteriorating health and aging of the body, when one has to admit that youth, beauty, a slim figure, good health are far in the past. For a man, it is more difficult to overcome the first sub-crisis, and for a woman, the second.
Domestic scientist V.V. Boltenko singled out a number of stages of psychological aging, which do not depend on passport age.
On the first stage there is a connection with the type of activity that was leading for a person before retirement. As a rule, this type of activity was directly related to the pensioner's profession. More often these are people of intellectual labor (scientists, artists, teachers, doctors). This connection can be direct in the form of episodic participation in the performance of the previous work, or it can be indirect, through reading special literature, writing special literature, topics. If it breaks off immediately after retirement, then the person, bypassing the first stage, enters the second.
On the second stage there is a narrowing of the circle of interests due to the fulfillment of professional attachments. In communication with others, conversations on everyday topics already predominate, discussion of television programs, family events, successes or failures of children and grandchildren. In groups of such people, it is already difficult to distinguish who was an engineer, who was a doctor, and who was a professor of philosophy.
On the third stage personal health is paramount. Her favorite topic of conversation is medicines, methods of treatment, herbs ... Both in newspapers and in television programs, special attention is paid to these topics. The district doctor, his professional and personal qualities, becomes the most significant person in life.
On the fourth stage the meaning of life is the preservation of life itself. The circle of contacts is narrowed to the limit: the attending physician, social worker, family members who support the personal comfort of the pensioner, neighbors of the closest distance. For decency or habit - rare telephone conversations with old acquaintances of the same age, mail correspondence, mainly to find out how many more are left to survive.
And finally on fifth stage there is a decrease in the needs of a purely vital nature (food, rest, sleep). Emotion and communication are almost absent.
One of the founders of Russian psychology B.G. Ananiev explained that the paradox of human life lies in the fact that for many people “dying” occurs much earlier than physical decrepitude. Such a state is observed in those people who, of their own free will, begin to isolate themselves from society, which leads to "a narrowing of the volume of personal properties, to a deformation of the personality structure." Compared to centenarians who retain their identity, “some “beginning” pensioners at the age of 60-65 seem immediately decrepit, suffering from vacuums that have formed and a sense of social inferiority. From this age, a dramatic period of personality dying begins for them. And the conclusion that the scientist makes: “The sudden blocking of all the potentials of a person’s ability to work and talent with the cessation of many years of work cannot but cause deep restructuring in the structure of a person as a subject of activity, and therefore the personality.”
Mental aging is diverse, the range of its manifestations is very wide. Let's take a look at the main types.
In the typology of F. Giese, three types of old people and old age are distinguished:
1) an old negativityist who denies any signs of old age;
2) an extroverted old man, recognizing the onset of old age through external influences and by observing changes (young people have grown up, disagreement with them, the death of loved ones, a change in their position in the family, changes-innovations in the field of technology, social life, etc. );
3) introverted type, which is characterized by an acute experience of the aging process. A person does not show interest in the new, is immersed in memories of the past, is inactive, strives for peace, etc.
I.S. Kon identifies the following socio-psychological types of old age:
First type- active creative old age, when veterans, leaving for a well-deserved rest, continue to participate in public life, in the education of young people, etc. - live a full-blooded life, without experiencing any inferiority.
Second type old age is characterized by the fact that pensioners are engaged in things for which they simply did not have time before: self-education, recreation, entertainment, etc. Those. This type of old people is also characterized by good social and psychological adaptability, flexibility, and adaptation, but the energy is directed mainly at oneself.
Third type(and these are predominantly women) finds the main application of his strength in the family. And since homework is inexhaustible, women who do it simply have no time to mope, get bored. However, as psychologists note, life satisfaction in this group of people is lower than in the first two.
Fourth type These are people whose meaning of life is taking care of their own health. Various forms of activity and moral satisfaction are connected with this. At the same time, there is a tendency (more often in men) to exaggerate their real and imaginary illnesses, increased anxiety.
Along with the selected prosperous types of old age, I.S. Kohn also draws attention to the negative types of development:
a) aggressive, old grumblers, dissatisfied with the state of the world around them, criticizing everyone except themselves, teaching everyone and terrorizing with endless claims;
b) disappointed in themselves and their own lives, lonely and sad losers, constantly blaming themselves for real and imaginary missed opportunities, thereby making themselves deeply unhappy.
A rather original interpretation is given by A. Kachkin, a sociologist from Ulyanovsk. He divides older people into types depending on the interests that dominate their lives:
1. Family type - aimed only at the family, its well-being.
2. Lonely type. The fullness of life is achieved mainly through communication with oneself, one's own memories (a variant of loneliness together is possible).
3. Creative type. Doesn't have to be done artistic creativity, this type can realize itself in the garden.
4. Social type-pensioner-public man, engaged in socially useful deeds and events.
5. The political type fills his life with participation (active or passive) in political life.
6. Religious type.
7. Fading type. A person who could not or did not want to compensate for the former fullness of life with some new occupation did not find application for his strength.
8. Sick type.
People of this orientation are busy not so much maintaining their own health as monitoring the course of their diseases.
Many old people become deviants; people of deviant behavior (drunkards, vagrants, suicides).
2.3 Types of personality adaptation to old age
The classification proposed by D.B. Bromley. She identifies five types of personality adaptation to old age:
1) A constructive attitude of a person towards old age, in which the elderly and old people are internally balanced, have a good mood, and are satisfied with emotional contacts with people around them. They are moderately critical of themselves and at the same time very tolerant of others, their possible shortcomings. They do not dramatize the end of their professional activities, they are optimistic about life, and the possibility of death is interpreted as a natural event that does not cause sadness and fear. Having not experienced too many traumas and upheavals in the past, they show neither aggression nor depression, they have lively interests and constant plans for the future. Thanks to their positive life balance, they confidently count on the help of others. The self-esteem of this group of elderly and old people is quite high.
2) Dependency relation. A dependent person is a person who is subordinate to someone, dependent on a spouse or his child, who does not have too high life aspirations and, thanks to this, willingly leaves the professional environment. The family environment provides him with a sense of security, helps to maintain inner harmony, emotional balance, and not experience either hostility or fear.
3) Defensive attitude, which is characterized by exaggerated emotional restraint, some straightforwardness in their actions and habits, the desire for "self-sufficiency" and reluctance to accept help from other people. People of this type of adaptation to old age avoid expressing their own opinions, with difficulty sharing their doubts and problems. A defensive position is sometimes taken in relation to the whole family: even if there are some claims and complaints against the family, they do not express them. The defense mechanism that they use against the feeling of fear of death and deprivation is their activity “through force”, constant “feeding” by external actions. People with a defensive attitude to the coming old age with great reluctance and only under pressure from others leave their professional work;
4) The attitude of hostility towards others.
People with such an attitude are aggressive, explosive and suspicious, they tend to “shift” the blame and responsibility for their own failures onto other people, they do not quite adequately assess reality. Distrust and suspicion make them withdraw into themselves, avoid contact with other people. They drive away the idea of retirement in every possible way, as they use the mechanism of discharging tension through activity. Their life path, as a rule, was accompanied by numerous stresses and failures, many of which turned into nervous diseases. People belonging to this type of attitude towards old age are prone to acute reactions of fear, they do not perceive their old age, they think with despair about the progressive loss of strength. All this is combined with a hostile attitude towards young people, sometimes with the transfer of this attitude to the whole "new, alien world." Such a kind of rebellion against their own old age is combined in these people with a strong fear of death.
5. The attitude of man's hostility towards himself.
People of this type avoid memories because they have had many failures and difficulties in their lives. They are passive, do not rebel against their own old age, they only meekly accept what fate sends them. The inability to satisfy the need for love is the cause of depression, self-claims and sadness. These states are accompanied by a feeling of loneliness and uselessness. Own aging is estimated quite realistically; the end of life, death is interpreted by these people as deliverance from suffering.
Psychiatrist M. McCulloch, who was the first to study the influence of animals on the human psyche, as a result of a survey, came to the conclusion that pets make a person calmer, and for some people who have suffered serious mental shocks, such “four-legged doctors” simply need to be prescribed.
The feeling of loneliness drains the spiritual strength of a person and thus undermines the physical absence of human contacts, destroys the personality, its social system. “It has been proven by direct experiments,” wrote Academician A.I. Berg - that a person can think normally long time only under the condition of continuous information communication with the outside world. Complete information isolation is the beginning of insanity. Information that stimulates thinking, communication with the outside world is also necessary, like food and warmth, moreover, as the presence of those energy fields in which all the life of people on the planet takes place.
All the main types of old age presented here, attitudes towards it, do not exhaust the whole variety of manifestations of behavior, communication, activities of an aging person, and the diversity of individuals. All classifications are indicative in order to form some basis for specific work with people of the elderly and senile age.
Chapter 3. PREVENTION OF AGING
3.1 The main stressors of the elderly and senile people and ways to overcome them
Before determining the prevention of aging, it is necessary to know those stressors that worsen the state of wakefulness of an elderly person.
The main stressors of the elderly and senile age can be considered-
Lack of a clear life rhythm;
Narrowing the scope of communication;
Withdrawal from active work;
Syndrome "empty nest";
A person's withdrawal into himself;
The feeling of discomfort from a closed space and many other life events and situations.
The most severe stress is loneliness in old age. A person has no relatives, peers, friends. Loneliness in old age can also be associated with living separately from younger family members. However, more significant in old age are psychological aspects(isolation, self-isolation), reflecting the awareness of loneliness as misunderstanding and indifference on the part of others. Loneliness becomes especially real for a person who lives a long time. The focus of attention, thoughts, reflections of an old person can be exclusively the situation that gave rise to the restriction of the circle of communication. The heterogeneity and complexity of the feeling of loneliness is expressed in the fact that the old person, on the one hand, feels a growing gap with others, is afraid of a lonely way of life; on the other hand, he seeks to isolate himself from others, to protect his world and stability in it from the intrusion of outsiders. Practicing gerontologists are constantly faced with the fact that complaints of loneliness come from old people living with relatives or children, much more often than from old people living separately. One of the very serious causes of disruption of ties with the environment lies in the disruption of ties between old people and young people. Often today one can also name such a phenomenon as gerontophobia, or hostile feelings towards old people.
Many of the stressors of the elderly and old people can be prevented or relatively painlessly overcome precisely by changing the attitude towards the elderly and the aging process in general. The well-known American physician and founder of the Institute for Somatic Research, Thomas Hana, writes: “Glorifying youth is the flip side of hatred of aging ... Despising the fact of aging is the same as despising life. Youth is not a state to be preserved. This is a state that must be preserved and continued. Youth has strength, but it has no skill. But skill and experience is the greatest strength. Youth has speed, but it has no efficiency. But in the end, only efficiency helps to achieve the goal. Youth lacks perseverance. But only perseverance helps to solve complex problems and make the right decisions. Young people have energy and intelligence, but they do not have the ability to make the right decisions, to judge correctly how to use these qualities. Youth is filled with genetically programmed desires, but it does not know how to achieve their fulfillment and feel the beauty of what has been achieved. Youth is full of hopes and promises, but it does not have the ability to appreciate their fulfillment and fulfillment.
Youth is the time to sow and cultivate the crops, but it is not the time to harvest. Youth is a time of innocence and ignorance, but it is not a time of wisdom and knowledge. Youth is a time of emptiness that is waiting to be filled, it is a time of opportunities that are waiting to be realized, it is a beginning that is waiting to be developed ... If we do not understand that life and aging are a process of growth and progress, then we will not understand the main principles of life ... "
3.2 Healthy lifestyle as a factor in longevity
Aging prevention is the oldest dream of mankind. Eternal youth has been a long-awaited dream since antiquity. History is full of examples of unsuccessful search for youth elixirs, "living water", "rejuvenating apples" and other ways to rejuvenate the body.
But on the other hand, it is known that some deliberate systematic attempts to achieve the goal of life extension were based to some extent on adequate methods. So, for example, according to Taoism (a religiously organized life extension system of ancient China), immortality could be obtained, in addition to other preventive measures, by following a diet containing low-calorie foods of plant origin.
Modern research has shown that a low-calorie diet can actually contribute to a significant life extension. Hippocrates, Aristotle and other philosophers recommended diets, moderate exercise, massage, water treatments. These methods are certainly useful today for maintaining active longevity.
Ancient naturalists and philosophers saw many sources of ill health, the causes of illness and aging in the characters, temperaments, behavior of people, their habits and traditions, i.e. in their conditions and way of life. The Englishman R. Bacon believed that a short life is not the norm, but deviations from it. The main reason for the shortening of life, in his opinion, was an unrighteous and wrong way of life.
Another English philosopher F. Bacon was also convinced that bad habits have the greatest influence on the aging process.
Numerous and long-term studies of gerontologists have proven that an irrational lifestyle (physical inactivity, ategornaya diet, smoking, alcohol abuse) are risk factors for old age.
The great Russian biologist I.I. Mechnikov proposed a method for extending life associated with his work in the field of microbiology. In his opinion, the main disharmony leading to premature aging is the large intestine, which originally served to digest coarse plant foods, and when the nature of nutrition changed, it became a kind of incubator for putrefactive bacteria, the metabolic products of which poison the body, thereby reducing life expectancy. In this regard, in order to increase life expectancy, he proposed the use of fermented milk products (today it is Mechnikov's yogurt), which improves the activity of putrefactive bacteria.
Another direction of life extension was the use of gonadal extracts. It was based on the obvious connection between health and sexual activity, i.e. it was believed that the stimulation of sexual function could lead to an improvement in life. The famous French physiologist C. Brown-Sequard, who injected himself with extracts from the genital organs of animals, claimed that he was 30 years younger.
Even more famous in the past was the method of "cell therapy" by the Swiss doctor P. Niehans, who used tissue extracts to rejuvenate tens of thousands of people, including well-known ones (W. Churchill, S. De Gaulle, K. Adenauer.)
The achievements of modern gerontology have made it possible to expand our understanding of aging as a complex biological process, about social factors that affect its speed and ways to slow it down, about the possibilities to extend human life for years, decades.
The primary causes of aging are molecular in nature. Some scientists believe that aging is genetically programmed and the “wound up biological clock” should gradually stop. “Programmed aging” is slowed down by low-calorie nutrition, some drugs (geroprotectors), in particular, peptide bioregulators (thymalin, thymogen, epithalamin).
Geroprotectors (geriatric agents) are biologically active substances of non-specific general regulatory action. Influencing active metabolic processes at the molecular, cellular level, they normalize metabolism. Activate the reduced physiological functions of the body. This explains their universal normalizing effect, which provides a significant increase in the biological capabilities of an aging organism, expanding the range of its adaptation, including to the pharmacological stresses of aging. In modern practice, complex vitamin therapy, microelements, hormones, biogenic stimulants-adaptogens (ginseng, eleutherococcus, etc.)
Other scientists believe that aging is caused by genetic damage that occurs faster than cells can repair it. They arise under the influence of electromagnetic radiation (ultraviolet, gamma radiation), alpha radiation (external factors) and as a result of the vital activity of the organism itself (internal factors).
This happens, for example, under the influence of continuous attacks chemical substances known as free radicals. They contain a hydroxyl group (OH) and atomic oxygen (O), which destroy many substances by oxidizing them. Among their victims are lipids, which are part of the membranes of the surrounding body of all cells, proteins and nucleic acids, the material from which genes are “made”.
The healing effect is enhanced by the combination of hydrocolonotherapy with thermotherapy, unloading nutrition and adsorbents. This approach has great prospects and, undoubtedly, should find its niche in human aging prevention programs.
The human body, as a perfect mechanism, is designed for long-term viability and life expectancy, which is largely determined by how a person builds it for himself - shortens or prolongs, how to take care of his health, because. health is the main basis of longevity and active creative life.
Life expectancy and health depend on 50% of the lifestyle that a person creates for himself, 20% on hereditary biological factors, another 20% on external environmental factors, and only 10% on the efforts of medicine.
Medicine cannot guarantee a person the preservation of absolute health and longevity if he does not have a mindset for self-preserving behavior and a desire to be healthy and able to work as long as possible.
A healthy lifestyle is a certain factor of health and longevity, it requires certain efforts from a person, and most people neglect its rules. According to the definition of Academician N.M. Amosova “To be healthy, you need your own efforts, constant and significant. Nothing can replace them."
A healthy lifestyle as a system consists of three main interrelated and interchangeable elements, three cultures:
Food cultures, movement cultures, and emotion cultures.
Separate health-improving methods and procedures will not give a stable improvement in health, because they do not affect the integral psychosomatic structure of a person.
1.Culture of nutrition and prevention of aging
Poor nutrition is one of critical factors risk premature aging.
Today, when, according to gerontologists, human aging in the vast majority occurs according to a pathological premature (accelerated) type, the nutritional characteristics characteristic of the elderly and senile age must and must be taken into account in earlier age groups. These features are associated with age-related changes in the digestive system. Premature atrophy leads to a decrease in the functional activity of the glands of the stomach, intestines, as well as large digestive glands - the liver and pancreas. This is expressed in a decrease in the secretion and activity of the produced enzymes.
The motility of the gastrointestinal tract, the processes of digestion and absorption in the intestine are also weakened. The deterioration of its activity additionally provokes irrational nutrition in quantitative and qualitative terms. Therefore, compliance with its basic rules will have a pronounced positive impact on health, prevention of premature aging.
Nutrition should be varied, moderate and meet age-related needs and energy costs.
In old age, when energy costs are limited, the calorie content of food should be 1900-2000 kcal, for men 2200-3000 kcal.
It is advisable to set the diet at least 3-4 times a day, the last meal - 2-3 hours before bedtime. Fatty varieties of wheat, offal rich in cholesterol (liver, brains, udder, caviar) should not be used. More vegetables and fruits should be included in the diet. More greens, onions, garlic, parsley, dill should be consumed.
Every day it is necessary to include in food products of the sea and sea fish, canned food from sea fish. They differ in the most specific content of various microelements, for example, iodine, bromine, fluorine, and due to this they are able to compensate for the inadequacies of our diet.
Unfortunately, many today are not able to afford to eat well. Due to the high cost of products, the problem of unbalanced nutrition can be tried to be solved by additional consumption of biologically active additives.
The appearance of biologically active substances as a means of preventing aging, from the point of view of gerontologists, is justified and caused by the fact that the state of actual nutrition of the Russian population is characterized by a significant deviation in the level of consumption of food ingredients.
2. Culture of movement
Only aerobic physical exercises (walking, jogging, swimming, skiing, gardening, etc.) have a healing effect.
Age-related changes in the body are physiologically inevitable, but each person is able to delay them. To do this, already from the age of 40, it is necessary to begin the struggle for your health and the preservation of active longevity.
Insufficient physical activity is a risk factor for both premature aging and the development of diseases.
For those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, the signs of approaching old age come much earlier and worsen every day, manifested by the growing depletion of physical and intellectual strength.
Movements are food for the muscle half of our body. Without this food, the muscles atrophy, regular varied and prolonged movement is a biological imperative, disobedience to which entails not only sagging and disgusting bodily forms, but also hundreds of serious diseases.
Human organs are distinguished by a large reserve of functions. Only 35% of its absolute capabilities are involved in normal daily activities. The remaining 65% without training will atrophy, reserves will be lost. This is the road to maladjustment. If you do not engage in physical training, then the cardiovascular and respiratory systems begin to age from the age of 12-13. Intensive physical training must be included in the mandatory daily regimen no later than 30 years. It is from this age that a modern person begins a particularly rapid extinction of functions and aging of all major life support systems.
A sedentary lifestyle leads to a general metabolic disorder: accelerated excretion of nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and calcium. Due to a decrease in the excursion of the chest, diaphragm and abdominal wall, prerequisites are created for diseases of the respiratory, digestive and genitourinary systems.
In persons with a sedentary lifestyle, along with a decrease in physical performance, resistance to extreme influences decreases - cold, heat, oxygen starvation, the immune system is weakened and disoriented. A healthy immune system, supported by systematic movement, is ready to fight even cancer cells.
Prolonged insufficient muscle activity, which caused significant changes at all levels of the body's vital activity, can lead to a complex of persistent disorders - hypokinetic diseases. Attention and memory weakens, drowsiness, lethargy, insomnia appear, general mental activity decreases, mood drops, appetite worsens, a person becomes irritable. Gradually, coordination of movements is disturbed, the chest becomes narrow and hollow, stoop appears, diseases of the spine, chronic colitis, hemorrhoids, stones in gallbladder and kidneys, the tone of muscles and blood vessels decreases, and vice versa, active movement has a beneficial effect on the mental component of health.
In the process of muscle work, endorphins are released into the blood - hormones that reduce pain and improve well-being and mood. The level of enkephamines, which have a beneficial effect on the processes of the central nervous system, also increases, mental processes and functions.
Endorphins and enkephamins help to get out of depression, find peace of mind, create a good mood and even a state of physical and spiritual spirituality, called euphoria by the ancient Romans.
Thus, movement is the most important natural factor in the development and maintenance of a healthy body.
3. Culture of emotions
If we proceed not from biological, but from socio-psychological ideas about the disease, then it can be considered as a mental breakdown, mental maladaptation, disintegration of the personality, human feelings, psychological attitudes, psychosomatic disintegration.
An outstanding contemporary pathologist, Hans Selye, considered the disease solely as a pathological stress or distress.
Negative emotions (envy, fear, etc.) have a huge destructive power, positive emotions (laughter, joy, love, gratitude, etc.) preserve health, contribute to success and prolong life.
Negative emotions are detrimental to the body: suppressed anger gnaws at the liver and small intestine, fear leaves traces in the kidneys and large intestine. The combination of emotions in an alloy with the unconscious and conscious relationships of a person is nothing more than feelings that lead along the roads of health and disease, preserve youth for the elderly or prematurely turn a young old man into a young man.
Thoughts correspond to emotions, forming a kind of unity; An angry person has angry thoughts. If a person is gripped by fear, other emotions are blocked, and fear is also in thoughts. Unpleasant thoughts push a person along the path of illness.
Emotions determine our mood - not as bright as the emotions themselves, but a more stable emotional state. A sad, anxious, peaceful, solemn or cheerful mood is not an objective, specially directed, but a personal and “productive” background emotional state. The sensual basis of mood is often formed by the tone of vital activity, i.e. general condition of the body or well-being. Even the most beautiful mood "spoils" - due to fatigue, headache, energy exhaustion. Therefore, a good physical shape and excellent physical health is the basis of a good mood and positive emotions.
Effective recovery is unthinkable without the achievement of mental health. A person with an exhausted nervous system experiences spiritual and physical fatigue. He tries to stimulate himself with willpower, then fights fatigue with unhealthy stimulants: tea, coffee, alcohol.
Is it possible to prevent such a "gray" life? Not only possible, but necessary. For this you need:
1. take control of your mood;
2. reduce your sensitivity to other people's words;
3. try to put an end to hatred, bitterness, envy forever, which, like nothing else, weaken the nervous system;
4. part with anxiety that reduces the nervous system;
5. do not accept indifferently any blows of fate, do not put up with poverty and do not stagnate;
6. do not complain to others, trying to arouse their sympathy and self-pity;
7. do not try to "remake" others in your own way;
8. do not make grandiose long-term plans;
9. make the promotion of vitality and health a real overriding prospect and daily rejoice at the slightest success in achieving it.
The advice of long-livers of the Caucasus is also useful. There is a large book by the American Paula Garb "Long-livers", which is referred to by the psychologist Abramova G.S. and she gives the following secrets of longevity:
Old people, including those over 90, talk daily with relatives and immediate neighbors, and meet with their friends at least once a week. The purpose of the general part of the conversations of young people and middle-aged people with the elderly is to get advice on important issues of everyday life;
Old people in Abkhazia are highly respected, which strengthens in them such a pronounced sense of dignity;
The desire to be healthy, the absence of the habit of complaining about diseases, the lack of interest in diseases (it is known that self-assessment of the possibility of one's own death is a product of depression or other emotional complications);
The elderly of Abkhazia have no signs of depression, which is often the cause of senile insanity;
The elderly of Abkhazia do not experience loneliness - they feel daily care from relatives and neighbors. Everyone is convinced that the best medicine is the love and care of others;
Variety of interests, desire to live full life;
These are people with a special sense of humor, the desire to be always surrounded by other people;
The elderly are taken care of, this is a natural manifestation of the philosophy of life;
Friendly and hospitable attitude towards people of other nationalities;
Centenarians tend to perceive everything that happens in their lives as the result of their own actions, and not some external forces; it refers to the ability to overcome life's stresses. Centenarians are most often individuals who take responsibility for everything that happens to them, feeling themselves masters of their own destiny;
In Abkhazia, not a single old man spoke of old age clearly and sharply negatively. In Abkhazia, a crime against her is impossible, just as it is impossible to imagine an old man in the role of a criminal.
Thus, the road to healthy old age, to active longevity is the moral, spiritual transformation of each of us, which professes the eternal ideals of truth and goodness.
CONCLUSION
Thus, in conclusion of this study, based on the materials studied and based on the goals and objectives set in the work, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Old age is the final phase in human development. The period of gerontogenesis (the period of aging) according to the international classification begins at the age of 60 for men and from 55 years for women and has three gradations: elderly, senile and centenarians.
2. The process of aging is a genetically programmed process, accompanied by certain age-related changes in the body. Many studies testify to the aging of the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, nervous and other systems, i.e. about the negative shifts that occur in the body in the process of involution.
3. All changes during the aging period are individual. The complex and contradictory nature of human aging as an individual is associated with quantitative changes and qualitative restructuring of biological structures, including neoplasms.
4. The period of late ontogenesis is a new stage in the development and specific action of the general laws of ontogenesis, heterochrony and structure formation.
5. Various kinds of changes in a person as an individual, occurring in the elderly and senile age, are aimed at actualizing the potential, reserve capabilities accumulated in the body during the period of growth, maturity and formed during the period of late ontogenesis. At the same time, the participation of the individual in the preservation of the individual organization and the regulation of its further development during the period of gerontogenesis (including the possibility of neoplasms) should increase.
6. There are various ways to increase the biological activity of various structures of the body (polarization, redundancy, compensation, construction), which ensure its overall performance after the end of the reproductive period.
7. For the psychological portrait of an old person, the characteristic features are self-centeredness and selfishness. I.S. Cohn identified the following socio-psychological types of old age:
1) active creative old age;
2) self-education, recreation, entertainment;
3) for women, the application of their forces in the family;
4) people whose meaning is taking care of their own health.
These are all favorable types of old age.
Negative types of development of old age:
a) aggressive, grumpy;
b) disappointed in themselves and their own lives;
c) disappointed in themselves and their own lives.
8. There are five types of adaptation to old age:
1) constructive attitude of a person to old age;
2) dependency relationship;
3) defensive attitude;
4) the attitude of hostility towards others;
5) the attitude of man's hostility towards himself.
9. Active longevity of an elderly person is promoted by many factors, the leading psychological among which can be considered the following: his development as a socially active person, as a subject of creative activity and a bright individuality. And here a high level of self-organization, conscious self-regulation of one's lifestyle and activity plays a huge role.
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