Disengagement Theory Of Aging Essay
MODULE 41: ADULTHOOD
ADULTHOOD
-begins around age 20 and lasts until about age 40 to 45 with middle adulthood beginning then and continuing until around age 65.
Physical Development: The Peak of Health
*Early adulthood – marks the peak of physical health
*Middle adulthood – people gradually become aware of changes in their bodies
*late adulthood – in our 50’s and 60’s we may experience a gradual decline in height because of loss of bones and a further decrease in output of lungs and kidneys, an increase in skin wrinkles and a deterioration in joints.
Physical Changes in Late Adulthood
The Aging Body
*genetic preprogramming theories of aging:
-theories that suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to their reproduction, and that …show more content…
after a certain time, they are no longer able to divide.
*wear-and-tear theories of aging
-theories that suggest that the mechanical function of the body simply stop working
Cognitive Changes: Thinking About and During Late Adulthood
-one reason for the changes in view is that more sophisticated research techniques exist for studying the cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood
-other difficulties hamper research into cognitive functioning during late adulthood
*Alzheimer’s disease – a progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities
The Social World of Late Adulthood: Old but not Alone
*Disengagement theory of aging
-a theory that suggests that aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels.
*Activity theory
-a theory that suggests that the elderly who are most successful while aging are those who maintain the interests and activities they had during middle age.
*Life review
-the process by which people examine and evaluate their lives
Adjusting to Death
-Elizabeth Kubler Ross brought the subject of death into the open with her observation that those facing impending death tend to move through five brood stages:
• Denial: In this stage, people resist the idea that they are dying. Even if told that their chances for survival are small, they refuse to admit that they are facing death.
• After moving beyond the denial stage, dying people become angry – angry at people around them who are in good health, angry at medical professionals for being ineffective, and angry to
God.
• Bargaining: Anger leads to bargaining in which the dying try to think of ways to postpone death. They may decide to dedicate their lives to religion if God saves them; they may say “If only I can live to see my son married, I will accept death then.”
• Depression: When dying people come to feel that bargaining is of no use, they move to the next stage: depression. They realize that their lives really are coming to an end, leading to what Kubler-Ross calls “preparatory grief” for their own deaths.
• Acceptance: In this stage, people accept impending death. Usually, they are unemotional and uncommunicative; it is as if they have made peace with themselves and are expecting death with no bitterness.
ADULTHOOD
-begins around age 20 and lasts until about age 40 to 45 with middle adulthood beginning then and continuing until around age 65.
Physical Development: The Peak of Health
*Early adulthood – marks the peak of physical health
*Middle adulthood – people gradually become aware of changes in their bodies
*late adulthood – in our 50’s and 60’s we may experience a gradual decline in height because of loss of bones and a further decrease in output of lungs and kidneys, an increase in skin wrinkles and a deterioration in joints.
Physical Changes in Late Adulthood
The Aging Body
*genetic preprogramming theories of aging:
-theories that suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to their reproduction, and that …show more content…
after a certain time, they are no longer able to divide.
*wear-and-tear theories of aging
-theories that suggest that the mechanical function of the body simply stop working
Cognitive Changes: Thinking About and During Late Adulthood
-one reason for the changes in view is that more sophisticated research techniques exist for studying the cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood
-other difficulties hamper research into cognitive functioning during late adulthood
*Alzheimer’s disease – a progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities
The Social World of Late Adulthood: Old but not Alone
*Disengagement theory of aging
-a theory that suggests that aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels.
*Activity theory
-a theory that suggests that the elderly who are most successful while aging are those who maintain the interests and activities they had during middle age.
*Life review
-the process by which people examine and evaluate their lives
Adjusting to Death
-Elizabeth Kubler Ross brought the subject of death into the open with her observation that those facing impending death tend to move through five brood stages:
• Denial: In this stage, people resist the idea that they are dying. Even if told that their chances for survival are small, they refuse to admit that they are facing death.
• After moving beyond the denial stage, dying people become angry – angry at people around them who are in good health, angry at medical professionals for being ineffective, and angry to
God.
• Bargaining: Anger leads to bargaining in which the dying try to think of ways to postpone death. They may decide to dedicate their lives to religion if God saves them; they may say “If only I can live to see my son married, I will accept death then.”
• Depression: When dying people come to feel that bargaining is of no use, they move to the next stage: depression. They realize that their lives really are coming to an end, leading to what Kubler-Ross calls “preparatory grief” for their own deaths.
• Acceptance: In this stage, people accept impending death. Usually, they are unemotional and uncommunicative; it is as if they have made peace with themselves and are expecting death with no bitterness.