The Aged in the Society
Name
Institution
Taking care of the Elderly in the Society
The world is a cycle, and every human being grows in a proven cycle. Each one of us is expected to grow old, and at some point, we will require the assistance of someone to go about our everyday life. Whether you aim at navigating from a point to another or queuing to withdraw some funds from a financial institution, you are going to need assistance from a person when you grow old. What you have in mind towards a certain idea is not always what you will meet in real life; therefore, the elderly should be given special care and attention in their day to day activities.
The aged in the society are thought to be solely dependable on their younger relatives. The aged are believed to have poor mental health as they grow older, and most of them cannot make decisions on their own (Dionigi, 2015). Furthermore, the aged are thought to require assistance in activities that may involve the use of energy. The society also thinks that when one grows old, he cannot earn a living on his own. But in contrast to these beliefs, I believe that the mental health of someone is affected by so many factors, not only age. A majority of the elderly have a sound mind, which is down to the care one had growing up. Nevertheless, not all ages require assistance to carry out activities that may require energy. Therefore people should be focused more on taking care of the aged and giving them the attention that they require rather than focusing on what is said about them.
It is proven that humans’ physical abilities and cognitive functions get affected as one’s age increases. In general, people tend to get tired quickly when they grow older; in that context, carrying out specific tasks requiring energy is greatly reduced because mostly the aged do not have the energy to do the task over the required time. For instance, one’s participation in certain if not all sporting activities is greatly hindered as one grows older. In that context, human abilities to maintain the desired balance in some activities which may involve walking or standing for long periods are greatly affected. Furthermore, the cognitive function of every human being is affected when one attains old age. For instance, one’s ability to apply selective attention is adversely affected. Loss of this ability makes the ease of switching from one activity to the next gruesomely slow. In old age, the memory is also greatly affected, and one can hardly remember special information required of them. (Glisky, 2007). Therefore physical and psychological care should be readily available to the aged.
The aged are likely to suffer from psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety. Dealing with these aged patients will come with challenges since most of the aged face stigmatization from society. The aged are looked down upon due to their health conditions and may be termed as mad. Concerning these, some may end up with cases of suicide among the mental health patients, whereas the others the conditions worsen. As it is believed that old age comes with death, such patients’ recovery becomes unlikely since most have given up the hope of living.
In a nutshell, the stereotype against the aged is a vice that should be eliminated. Consequently, the physical functioning of humans tends to be affected by old age. The cognitive functioning of the person is also affected. Finally, the mental health of the elderly should also be given sufficient attention to take care of the aged. The society should also borrow a leaf from this.
References
Dionigi, R. A. (2015, November 12). Stereotypes of aging: Their effects on the health of older adults. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jger/2015/954027/
Glisky, E. L. (2007, March 1). Changes in cognitive function in human aging – Brain aging – NCBI bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK3885/