Psychological and Emotional Issues in Elderly Care

ELDER CARE

Psychological and Emotional Issues Related to ElderCare

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the one in which a child or adult who has experienced trauma keeps recalling the memory of that mental or physical distressing situation (Osmosis, 2016). Extreme stress of this kind is risky since it can pose serious health issues for adults. This paper aims at elaborating on the effects of stress and its effective coping skills for the health of older adults.

The removal of psychological stressors, including traumatic events, chronic or daily stressors, is mandatory for better middle age and adult health to improve quality of life in their later years (Frias & Whyne, 2015). The troubles are more visible in adults in the form of outbursts, stomach problems, high blood pressure or hypertension, memory issues or dementia, obesity, diabetes, depression, irregular sleep patterns, and angry moods (Yaribeygi et al., 2017). Stress can affect individuals differently as their different bodies have different ways of responding based on the pathology.

One of the effective coping skills for stress management is mindfulness. It is a strategy to self-regulate stressors that reduce adult stress (Gallegos et al., 2013). Depressive symptoms and severity are studied to be decreased after mindfulness coping program since control and positivity in nature are heightened in adults. However, age, sex, and biological factors have their impacts on the results of the program. Further, exposure therapy is also useful in managing stress which exposes the affected individuals gradually to the outer environment to train them to self-reduce their stressors and get used to openness and social mingling (McGuire, Lewin & Storch, 2014). Similarly, cognitive-behavioral group therapy is also valuable in supporting the victims to give them a safe environment to express their stress within related survivors (Solati, Ja’Farzadeh & Hasanpour-Dehkordi, 2016).

References

Frias, C.M. & Whyne, E. (2015). Stress on health-related quality of life in older adults: The protective nature of mindfulness. Aging and Mental Health, 19(3), 201-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.924090

Gallegos, A.M., Hoerger, M., Talbot, N.L., Moynihan, J.A. & Duberstein, P.R. (2013). Emotional benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction in older adults: the moderating roles of age and depressive symptoms severity. Aging and Mental Health, 17(7), 823-829. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2013.799118

McGuire, J.F., Lewin, A.B. & Storch, E.A. (2014). Enhancing exposure therapy for anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 14(8), 893-910. https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.2014.934677