Gerontology Called Psychological Aspects Aging Retirement Can

¶ … Gerontology called Psychological Aspects Aging Retirement can have a strong effect on a person's life and on how he or she comes to perceive society in general. The fact that people end a long chapter in their lives when they retire means that they are likely to be somewhat confused and unsure regarding their future. One of the most intriguing aspects of this process involves the person's identity and the way that it is transformed.

Many are inclined to believe that their jobs kept them active and gave them a sense of purpose. These respective individuals can thus feel that they abandoned an important part of their lives when they retired and that even though they have more time at leisure they are unable to actually appreciate it to the fullest.

The fact that people currently have access to substances that make it more likely for them to live longer means that they can also consider the prospect of doing a series of activities consequent to the moment when they retire.

One can consider five stages when discussing with regard to retirement and the effects it has on an individual: "a growing interest as retirement approaches, initial euphoria, some stress, dealing with adjustments to a new lifestyle, then settling down." (Osborne 47) Osborne's article relates to the early stages of a retirement, as it is during this phase that the person actually acknowledges the difference between his or her old life and the life he or she has in the present.

The writer intends to have readers better acquainted with the degree to which the first years of retirement can affect a person from a psychological point-of-view, especially given that the respective individual's thinking for the rest of his or her life is likely to be a reflection of these early years of retirement. Society has a limited understanding of the role depression plays in case of older people.

Even with the fact that prevalence rates have been observed to be lower in younger people, numerous older individuals currently suffer from forms of depression that can be more difficult to identify. This is also made worse by individuals being inclined to believe that diverse types of grumpiness are perfectly normal in older people and that they are not actually suffering from depression.

"It is possible that current diagnostic criteria and age stereotypes under-represent the true prevalence rates for depression and anxiety in older populations." (Knight & Durbin 11) Older individuals have the tendency to put across feelings that seem different when compared to feelings expressed by their younger counterparts. With people becoming older, they are more likely to express their depression through sadness or through typical channels society is accustomed to seeing. As a consequence, they are often unable to raise public awareness regarding the complexity of depression in older people.

"Symptoms associated with depression and anxiety may be misinterpreted as representative of typical feelings coinciding with difficulties in later life, such as declining physical health, bereavement, and reductions in social support." (Knight & Durbin 11) In spite of the fact that it should be one of the central elements in psychology, the idea of aging is still underrepresented in psychology journals and psychologists have a limited understanding of how it actually affects people. "Between 2000 and 2010, the U.S.

population between 65 and 84 was predicted to increase by over 10%; an even larger increase of 44% was anticipated for those 85 and older." (Barrett & Redmond 328) This further contributes to the idea that aging needs to be provided with more attention from the general public and that individuals need to acknowledge the fact that the number of old people is very probable to increase while society as a whole has an incomplete understanding of the concepts that need to be used with the purpose to make transitions less damaging.

Although a lot of research needs to be performed in order for the world to understand the fact that aging is actually very likely to have harmful psychological effects on individuals, history contains a great deal of examples showing how aging can influence people. Considering the fact that people have traditionally acknowledged the fact that age is very probable to affect individuals, it.