How to Improve the Mental Health of Older Adults

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” – Robert Browning Older adults should be enjoying their so-called “golden years,” yet too many are beset with mental health issues that, in addition to other medical conditions they may have, contribute to a decline in their mental health. There is hope to help counter this, however, and new research points to innovative, as well as common sense, approaches on how to improve the mental health of older adults. Learn How to Cope with Anger Research from the American Psychological Association shows that anger is more harmful to the health of older adults than sadness. The effects of anger experienced daily was related to higher inflammation levels and chronic illness for study participants 80 years old and above, but not for younger seniors, while sadness wasn’t relate to either inflammation or chronic illness. Researchers noted that not all negative emotions, including anger, is bad, saying anger is an “energizing emotion that can help motivate people to pursue life goals.” With younger seniors, anger may be useful to help them overcome challenges in life and newly-developing age-related losses so that they can be healthier. On the other hand, once older adults reach the age of 80, since many of them begin to experience “irreversible losses and some of life’s pleasures fall out of reach, “ that’s when anger becomes problematic. Education and therapy, suggest the study authors, may help older adults reduce ...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Aging Mental Health and Wellness Alzheimer's disease Dementia Elderly Source Type: blogs