Common psychological problems of the elderly and preventive measures. After the elderly leave their jobs, various psychological problems will appear because of the reduction of social activities and interpersonal communication. If not solved, their health will be affected. The following are the common psychological problems of the elderly and their preventive measures!
Common psychological problems of the elderly and their preventive measures 1 The elderly are prone to four kinds of bad emotions after retirement. Psychologically, there will be a heavy sense of loss first, which will interfere with emotions and affect psychological balance. Some people always think that they are old and useless, and their units and families no longer need themselves, so they are more likely to feel lost, silent and stay at home.
Secondly, loneliness.
With the decrease of social activities and interpersonal communication, the elderly are prone to loneliness and depression after leaving their jobs. If their children go far away or set up another door, the elderly will live alone in the "empty nest", which is prone to loneliness and abandonment. Even if some old people live with their children, they will feel lonely if their children are not filial, caring or paying attention to their communication. In addition, if the wife dies of illness for a long time, it is easy to have a psychological state of "isolation" and "isolation", and there will be pessimism and disappointment, even depression and despair.
Some old people also have "homesickness" and like to miss the past.
They often indulge in memories of the past, often reminisce about the good old days, and then sigh "helpless and I wonder how many blossoms were broken", which will easily lead to depression over time.
Finally, the elderly are also prone to aging. On the one hand, it comes from the change of physical state, mainly the decline of physiological function, on the other hand, it comes from the change of thinking ability and intelligence, as well as the change of social environment, such as retirement and separation from children. However, some elderly people subjectively do not accept the psychological state of "they have become old people" and do not want people around them to treat themselves as old people everywhere.
Psychological problems can be traced.
If the general psychological problems are not alleviated, it will lead to anxiety and depression. In fact, the psychological problems of the elderly are traceable, and some small details can help us find the signs of mental illness of the elderly.
The first is emotional change. Some elderly people are easily excited, but they can also lose their temper over trifles and always feel uncomfortable and dissatisfied with the things around them. Some old people will become unhappy, depressed or indifferent to everything.
Secondly, memory loss and hypochondriac symptoms appear. Faced with the deterioration of physical fitness, the elderly do not know enough about aging and natural decline of health. They are always worried that they are old and sick, and that no one will serve them after a stroke. Therefore, they often think and feel nervous, and often sigh that they are "dying". Some old people are even more nervous and afraid when they see their former friends seriously ill or dead. They always feel that other people's today is their own tomorrow. If they feel a little sick, they will be more anxious and afraid.
In the end, you may have mental symptoms, become suspicious and sensitive, and often worry that your money will be stolen.
Environment is an important inducement.
Living environment, family environment, interpersonal relationship, etc. , may be the chief culprit leading to psychological problems of the elderly.
The first is the empty nest phenomenon. There are more and more one-child families in China. When their children leave home for work, study, marriage and other reasons, the elderly who live alone in the "empty nest" will have psychological obstacles.
Secondly, family conflicts. Contrary to the phenomenon of empty nest, many old people live with their children, and the living habits and concepts of the two generations are very different. The discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is the root of family conflicts. For families with many children, whether the property distribution of parents is fair or not will also cause contradictions between children, which may have a great impact on the psychology of the elderly.
Finally, financial constraints. After retirement, the economic income of the elderly has dropped sharply, and some elderly people live a very poor life, which will make the elderly feel inferior and useless and immerse themselves in memories of the past.
Study hard and ask questions to prevent mental illness.
True health is that the body is free from disease and the mind is healthy. If the mind is unhealthy, it will seriously affect the quality of life, and eventually it will inevitably affect or even damage the health. Therefore, learning mental health care, learning to live happily physically and mentally, and establishing a new concept of mental health are important conditions for every elderly person to spend his old age safely, healthily and longevity.
In order to obtain a good psychological state, the elderly can start from the following aspects:
First, change roles and re-adapt to the social and family environment.
Although retirement is a normal role change, people in different occupations have different psychological feelings about retirement. According to a comparative survey of retired cadres and retired workers in Beijing, the psychological feelings of workers have not changed much before and after retirement. After retirement, they get rid of heavy physical labor, have more time to do housework, entertain themselves, make friends, and have enough pension and medical insurance, so their hearts are more satisfied and their emotions are more stable. But the situation of retired cadres is very different. Before retirement, these veteran cadres had high social status and wide social contacts, and their life focus was on their careers. After retirement or resignation, the focus of their lives has become family chores, and social interaction has suddenly decreased, which makes them feel uncomfortable. Therefore, the elderly with high academic qualifications need to think about the arrangements after retirement and cultivate some healthy hobbies before retirement. There are many activities suitable for the interests of the elderly, such as practicing calligraphy, fishing, planting flowers and playing Tai Ji Chuan. After retirement, we should also insist on participating in social activities, re-establishing interpersonal relationships and helping each other. American psychologists' research shows that understanding and helping others is also beneficial to a person's mental health.
Second, maintain an optimistic, curious and positive mental state.
Some old people feel unhappy in their later years and have to endure loneliness, depression and depression silently. This situation is not only related to social and environmental factors, but also related to the elderly themselves. For example, with the growth of age, the adaptability to the outside world will gradually weaken, and the psychology of the elderly will usually undergo some subtle changes. In case of environmental changes or other stimuli, such as the tension or indifference of family relations, the reduction or absence of family affection, the elderly are prone to negative emotions such as loneliness, fear, anxiety, depression and irritability, which will lead to mental illness and even serious despair. Therefore, we should "face up to the reality and accept the challenge; Optimistic and open-minded, enjoy old age; Adapt to today and meet tomorrow. " We should face up to and accept the natural psychological changes and environmental changes in old age, because the reality already exists and cannot be changed with our wishes. Even if we are in a bad mood, bad things will inevitably happen, and time will not go backwards because we don't want to get old. Therefore, we should learn to accept it positively. For example, empty nesters will feel sad because they can't rely on their children. We can try to accept and face this fact and rely on ourselves and their wives, or other people who can rely on them. And firmly believe that having a good mood can solve psychological pain better than ten good medicines.
Third, study hard and use your brain scientifically. "Trees are always afraid of air, while people are always afraid of pine trees.
"When the elderly enter the second life, the main psychological preparation is to re-learn, enrich their spiritual life, delay the aging of their brains, and" it is never too old to learn ". Old people need to learn a lot, such as self-care, psychology, home economics and so on. At the same time, we should understand major events, social changes, new knowledge and new ideas at home and abroad and keep up with the times. In addition, you should update your professional knowledge and skills, and learn two skills with the characteristics of the new era, such as playing computer and surfing the Internet.
Fourth, find problems, seek medical treatment in time and seek medical help.
If the elderly have serious emotional, memory or mental symptoms, they may have suffered from serious mental disorders. They should go to a specialist hospital as soon as possible and seek the help of a professional doctor.
Common psychological problems of the elderly and their prevention and treatment countermeasures 2 pages. General characteristics of the psychology of the elderly
Cognitive function change
The degeneration and dysfunction of the nervous system, especially the brain of the elderly, first causes the gradual decline of the sense and perception ability. When people get old, their thinking abilities such as concept learning and problem solving decline, but the breadth and depth of thinking are often stronger than those of teenagers because they have rich knowledge and experience. Therefore, the composition and characteristics of the thinking of the elderly are very complicated.
Intellectual change
Because the mental decline in the process of aging is not comprehensive, the effect of solving various complex problems in real life is still at a high level, even surpassing young and middle-aged people in many aspects. This is because solving problems in real life is often not a single intellectual component, but a comprehensive analysis and keen judgment that includes non-intellectual factors such as social experience.
Motivation and demand
The needs of the elderly at all levels have their unique connotations. The security needs of the elderly are mainly manifested in the requirements of life safety and tranquility. In addition, the elderly hope to get more spiritual care from family and society, and still have a strong demand for participating in social activities and integrating into various groups to meet the needs of love and belonging. Although the social role and social status of the elderly have changed, their demand for respect has not decreased. They are required to acknowledge their own value, maintain their dignity, respect their own personality, have certain autonomy in family life, and live a confident, independent and self-reliant old age.
Emotional characteristics
After strictly distinguishing the factors of age and family life environment, the research shows that the emotional activities of the elderly are the same as those of the young and middle-aged people, and the emotional activities of caring for their own health are stronger than those of the young and middle-aged people. In other words, negative emotions such as loneliness, sadness and melancholy are not necessarily accompanied by emotional changes in the process of aging. But it is undeniable that old age is a frequent stage of negative life events. With the gradual aging of physiological function, the emergence of various diseases, the change of social role and status, the decrease of social communication, and the influence of negative life events such as widowhood, children leaving home, friends passing away, the elderly often have negative emotional experiences and reactions.
Personality change
In the process of aging, personality still maintains high stability and continuity, with relatively small changes, mainly manifested in the decrease of open experience and extroverted personality traits. Relatively speaking, the change of personality is more influenced by birth age and social and cultural factors.
interpersonal relationship
Relationship with spouse. Widowhood makes the elderly lose confidence in the future and fall into emptiness, loneliness and depression. Relationship with children. Many old people think that it is troublesome for their children to visit in a hurry and leave after dinner; And children don't come to visit them, they think it's unfilial. Contradictory psychology leads to complaints, quarrels and accusations. Relationship with colleagues. Communication is a necessary condition for the occurrence and development of people's social attributes and a pillar of people's spiritual attributes. After the old man retired, he left his work unit and the communication with his colleagues was suddenly interrupted.
Second, the common psychological manifestations and psychological problems of the elderly
Aging is useless
The sense of uselessness in aging is a subjective psychological state of feeling old and becoming an elder, that is, feeling useless. Life development has irresistible natural laws, but as an elder, it is extremely difficult to accept the phenomenon of self-decline objectively and frankly. With the change of age and life, the old people get sick and their functions decline, so they can't adapt to the idleness after retirement. They think that they have become a burden to the family and society, lost the value of existence and underestimated themselves. And produce a sense of uselessness, depression, pessimism, depression, reticence, and moping all day. Once the sense of uselessness of aging is produced, it means that a person's spirit has aged and lost his will and enthusiasm for life.
sense of loss
Some elderly people are often at a loss after leaving their jobs. I always thought that I was old and useless, and my unit and family no longer needed me. Some leading cadres, in particular, suddenly lost their rights, went out without a car to pick up the car, crowding round, and felt lost in their hearts, their lives were empty and their emotions were unstable. I am preoccupied, silent and never leave home.
lonely
Children are not only a heavy burden for parents, but also their spiritual sustenance and comfort. However, once children get married and leave their parents, they will feel relieved and find themselves lonely. Faced with this change, many parents can't treat it correctly, resulting in a lot of psychological discomfort and loneliness. In particular, children often can't go home often because of work, family and other reasons, and they don't care enough about the elderly. If the old people have less contact with their relatives and neighbors, their loneliness will be more obvious.
Stubborn and irritable
Older people are not easy to learn and absorb new ideas or technologies. They prefer to stick to the old ways and stick to the old ways, hoping to change with the constant. Mainly manifested in the stubborn views on some issues and the persistence of their own views. Even if one's views are obviously not in line with reality, one often does not listen to others' analysis and opinions, and thinks that one's opinions are authority, especially at home. When their opinions are rejected, they are impatient, nagging all day, unhappy and so on.
childish
As we all know, the elderly will become more or less like "old children". Easy to be happy, angry and capricious. This phenomenon of old children's faces is more common among women and people with low cultural quality. This phenomenon can also be said to be a kind of psychological self-defense. Looking at the complex reality with a younger mood can also be said to be the embodiment of a rational realm, seeing through the prosperity outside and only appreciating the pure and simple realm.
homesickness
People have feelings, and it is easy to miss the past, especially the elderly, who like to recall the past best. I like to talk with people about the past, especially about my personal experience. Although it is easy for the elderly to forget what they have said, they have to say it over and over again, giving people a feeling that there are many old roots and many old sayings.
Depression psychology
Depression is a common psychological reaction of the elderly. Depression in the elderly accounts for 7%- 10% of the elderly population. With the decline of various functions, the physical condition is not as good as before, and I feel powerless to overcome difficulties and lack hope for the future. Especially after retirement, psychological self-aging, resulting in a sense of loss, less contact with people at ordinary times, less emotional communication with children, spiritual emptiness, introverted, narrow-minded, taciturn, depressed over time, or induced by external unfavorable factors.
Anxiety psychology
Upset, easy to get angry, doubt one's own ability, nervous and afraid, which leads to dizziness, headache, insomnia and other symptoms of mental and somatic, autonomic nervous dysfunction.
be afraid
The fear of the elderly mainly comes from the threat of disease and death. Because of the torture of the disease or the suggestion of others' diseases, they have fear and show the avoidance behavior of the disease. However, the fear of some elderly people is not entirely the fear of death, but mainly the fear of disease, which will bring a burden to their children, be hated and ignored, and not be taken care of as they should. Some old people can regard life and death as natural laws, and thus face death with a calm mind. But there are also some elderly people who are afraid, helpless, refuse or even "escape" death. They either feel that their life goals have not been achieved, or that there are still big problems at home, or they are worried that they will die suddenly one day and cannot explain what happened before they died.
hypochondrium
Hypochondria is a common psychological obstacle for the elderly. As the name implies, hypochondriasis is to suspect or conclude that you have some serious physical disease (such as cancer, heart disease, etc.). ), which makes you worry, distressed and anxious. Paying too much attention to one's body is a common feature of hypochondriacs. Half of the elderly over 60 can have hypochondriac symptoms. This is because the psychological characteristics of the elderly have changed from caring about foreign objects to caring about their own bodies. In addition, these concerns can be strengthened through some subjective feelings. People who are stubborn and stubborn are more prone to hypochondria, and often have symptoms such as head discomfort, tinnitus, abnormal gastrointestinal function and insomnia. Even if you feel a little uncomfortable, you should tell the people around you.
Hallucinations and delusions
Hallucinations belong to mental perception disorder, while delusions belong to mental thinking disorder. Both of them are psychological barriers that are easy to occur in the elderly, especially women, and are related to the deterioration of organ function and physiological and psychological changes in the elderly. Hallucination is a fictional perception, and there is no corresponding stimulus in the objective environment, but patients feel its existence. People with paranoia often have personality defects, such as strong subjectivity, sensitivity and suspicion, and strong self-esteem. This is related to the lack of maternal love, some stimulation and the failure to establish good interpersonal relationships with people in childhood.
foolish
Dementia is a kind of mental retardation characterized by dementia, which is caused by the aging and atrophy of the brain and the extensive damage to the higher functions of the cerebral cortex. Generally speaking, there are more men than women. There are two kinds of dementia: one is primary dementia, which is the result of cerebral cortex involvement, degeneration, degeneration or atrophy. The second is vascular dementia, which is caused by ischemic, hemorrhagic or embolic cerebrovascular diseases, often with sudden onset and gradual decline in intelligence.
Retirement syndrome
"The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead". When the elderly reach an appropriate age, they will leave their jobs for many years and hand them over to young people. This is normal. However, retired veteran comrades often feel depressed, deviate from normal behavior, and even cause other diseases, which seriously affect their health. This is called retirement syndrome. Many elderly people have lost the rhythm of their daily work and the opportunity to talk with colleagues because of the sudden change of their living habits after retirement. They don't know how to kill time and can't adapt to the new living environment. They often become depressed, bored and even suffer from mental disorders and diseases.
Elderly empty nest syndrome
The so-called "empty nest family" refers to a family where children grow up separated from their parents and families, leaving only the elderly living alone. Especially the elderly, once faced with the "empty nest", will feel that they have lost their emotional and psychological support and dependence, and that their existence is no longer valuable to their children, thus falling into a boring, heartless and helpless "empty nest syndrome" state, and even committing suicide. This kind of bad mood can also lead to insomnia, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, indigestion, arrhythmia and other physical symptoms, and even lead to diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and digestive tract ulcer.
Psychology of the elderly after widowhood
After decades of stumbling, stumbling, when two people spend their old age together, if one of them "leaves first", it will definitely cause great mental trauma to the other. Some old people seem to have lost their spiritual support, and emotions such as sadness, hesitation, loss, loneliness and helplessness are intertwined in their hearts, losing confidence and courage to continue living.
Old people's remarriage psychology
The remarriage of old people is different from that of young people. Doubts hung over me.
I'm afraid my children will disagree. Although "a room full of children is not as good as half a husband and wife", although the elderly have the freedom and right to remarry, if the family is divided and the children are far away, life will not be good.
Second, I am afraid of being despised by others.
Third, I am afraid of property disputes. Some elderly people are widowed for a long time, depressed, insane, and have no sexual life for a long time, which leads to apathy of sexual desire and decline of sexual ability, so that they can not cause sexual excitement after remarriage. This kind of psychological dysfunction often leads to new contradictions.
Third, prevent the psychological problems of the elderly.
Pay attention to health care and prevent diseases.
Physical health often affects the level of mental health. Therefore, mental health needs to pay attention to physical health. If conditions permit, it is best for the elderly to have a physical examination once a year in order to find diseases in time and treat them as soon as possible. If you find something wrong with your body, you should go to the hospital for examination in time. It is not advisable to be too suspicious before the doctor makes a diagnosis, otherwise you will think too much and feel depressed, which will easily reduce your resistance to the disease. First of all, don't be nervous when you are sick. You should face the reality calmly and treat it positively. There are many ways to control cancer that can't be cured in the past, as long as it is found early. Heart disease, hypertension, etc. As long as you take medicine on time, pay attention to the rhythm of daily life and avoid mood swings, it can also be alleviated or even cured. Cases in this regard do exist.
Manyi Changle
In ancient China, keeping in good health was very important. One of the most important is Lotte know life. Knowing life is to understand the law of the development of things in the world, and Lotte is optimistic about the development of things. Old people should be optimistic about the laws in natural phenomena. If we correctly understand that "birth and death" is a natural law, no one can resist it. People always get sick, get old and die. Contentment is a life philosophy more suitable for the elderly. Contentment mainly refers to calmly dealing with all kinds of difficulties, not blindly optimistic, and not asking for trouble. Specifically, contentment means asking the elderly to be tolerant and considerate; Self-comfort and self-adjustment. There is nothing perfect in the world, so don't have too high expectations and requirements; Don't blame yourself and feel inferior. Contentment can keep the elderly optimistic under any circumstances and avoid all kinds of troubles that may be caused by things not going well.
Keep a good mood.
As the saying goes: smile, ten years old; Trouble, sorrow, hoary head. Emotion is closely related to health. Happy mood will increase appetite, keep breathing, pulse and blood pressure stable, which is beneficial to the health of the elderly. Negative emotions such as anger, sadness, panic and fear often lead to increased blood pressure and decreased appetite. Psychological pain will inevitably lead to physical discomfort. Over time, it will affect health and accelerate aging. So having a good mental state is one of the keys to keeping healthy. Old people should learn to adjust their emotions and release and entertain when they are sad; When thinking, be scattered and amused; When you are sad, you should transfer and talk; Be calm when you panic; When you are overjoyed, you should restrain yourself; When you are angry, you should control your anger and be tolerant ... Only in this way can you be cheerful and always maintain a positive mental state.
More than just activities.
The participation of the elderly in various activities can enhance their physical fitness and overcome or delay the decline of various organ functions caused by aging. Of course, activities can't be as intense as those of young people, but they can be carried out selectively and regularly according to their own physique and interests. Rehabilitation exercise can enhance digestion and absorption, increase blood supply to various organs of the body and promote metabolism. Rehabilitation exercise helps to relieve the fatigue caused by mental work and can exercise the tolerance of nervous system to fatigue. Enhance the transformation ability of brain excitation and inhibition process, thus strengthening the stability of nervous system, improving responsiveness and flexibility, making people energetic, quick-thinking, optimistic and stable.
A regular life
Keeping the law of daily life can promote the normal operation of human biological clock and effectively promote the physical and mental health of the elderly. Therefore, the elderly should let their psychology last for a long time and make their life regular. We should develop good living habits and rules, do not stay up late, do not sleep, do not smoke, do not drink too much, take a bath frequently and change clothes frequently. Moderate diet, reasonable nutrition, no overeating, no dieting, regular quantitative, coarse and fine grain mixing, meat and vegetable collocation, regular physical examination.
Strengthen interpersonal communication, repay the society and participate in various forms of social activities.
Strengthening interpersonal communication is one of the driving forces for the elderly to spend their old age peacefully. If there is a lack of information transmission between the elderly, they will feel empty and depressed, and not interacting with others will also promote the decline of brain cells. In order to avoid the bad behavior of social retreat, the elderly should deeply feel the importance of social life, go to the society through various ways, actively communicate with others, actively keep in touch with the outside world, seek spiritual sustenance and life motivation from social life, participate in education for the elderly, develop themselves, give full play to the afterheat for society, learn actively in their old age, and let the elderly experience a sense of belonging and accomplishment and enhance their sense of self-esteem.
Family and social concerns
Old people, like minors, need the care of family and society. The family environment directly affects the mental health of the elderly. A harmonious and warm family can make the elderly feel happy and happy, and the bad mentality will naturally dissipate. The elderly should handle the relationship between husband and wife, respect each other, love each other, trust each other, understand each other, care for each other, understand each other and encourage each other; Children should do their duty to support and honor the elderly, care more about the elderly materially and spiritually, and let the elderly enjoy the family happiness of their children and grandchildren around their knees and the younger generation being caring and attentive; Increasing harmonious communication between family in-laws can enhance the sense of belonging, eliminate loneliness, and help solve some family contradictions and difficulties of the elderly.
Creating an ethical environment of respecting the elderly in the whole society, reducing the psychological burden of the elderly, providing them with a sense of security, respecting and caring for the elderly are the signs of social development and civilized progress, and it is the traditional virtue and responsibility of a harmonious society to make the whole society pay extensive attention to the cause of the elderly.
Psychological adjustment of retired old people
Old people who have retired or are about to retire should correctly understand that retirement is a personnel labor system in China, a normal phenomenon in social life and something that everyone has to experience. It is not only the abandonment of society, but also the affirmation of the value of life by society. Retired elders should cultivate hobbies that meet their own needs and learn to fight diseases bravely and scientifically. The society should care about the retired old people ideologically and let them keep pace with the times. We should regularly organize them to carry out some education on current affairs, policies and regulations, and organize them to participate in some educational visits and inspection activities since the reform and opening up to see the outside world and broaden their horizons.
Psychological adjustment of widowed elderly people
Widowed elders may vent their emotions in various ways when they are extremely sad, such as pouring out their feelings in front of relatives and friends, or crying loudly. Temporarily collect the relics of the deceased wife to avoid thinking, and also let the widowed elderly stay with relatives and friends or children for a period of time to try to divert the attention of the elderly. Get in touch with the outside world, make more friends and participate in beneficial cultural and sports activities. If nervousness, anxiety, pessimism and depression persist for 1~2 months, we should face the reality correctly, actively seek the help of psychologists for psychological counseling, and assist with drug treatment if necessary. Finally, it should be pointed out that the psychological adjustment of widowed elderly people depends largely on the family and social environment. Whether children or relatives and friends, they should understand, understand and care about them, give them the necessary support, help them build up their confidence in life, and let them face the fiery sunset with strong optimism.