Accumulation Of Grief In Old Age

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

This May, my aunt will turn 88 years old. She is great, trying to cheer up. In order not to meet old man Alzheimer, she does crosswords, reads poetry. Tries to do something about the house, well, what happens, of course. And with sadness he notices that it turns out less and less. Interested in the life of the younger generations.

She is the youngest and is now the last living of her parental family.

Her parents died long ago, then her brothers and sisters began to leave one after another, her husband died, one of her sons died. And the network of her old friends, classmates, classmates, colleagues is getting smaller with each passing month. One by one, the people she loved, to whom she was attached, leave. Very often in old age there is a cumulative effect of grief, when it accumulates, a person does not have enough time and energy to process one grief, as happens another, followed by a third….

And an old person can become emotionally detached for a long time. It becomes difficult for him to concentrate, memory, attention, thinking deteriorate. Often old people talk about death. And all this is happening not only due to the existing organic reasons, although, of course, there is a share of them. Very often during this period, elderly people are diagnosed with depression. Without treatment, this condition leads to an even greater withdrawal of a person from life, from that valuable that is still left in it. They also lose touch with their inner emotional forces, which it becomes difficult for old people to reinvest in relationships and find meaning for the rest of their lives. Friends are a great softening aid in dealing with grief.

Even more difficult is what seniors and old people experience and must experience the loss of the people they love in the context of many other losses.

They can struggle with the loss of their professional identity, their ability to financially, physically and practically support friends and family, the loss of their activity and their health, their sexuality, their ability to participate in social and recreational activities, and their independence. Many are also struggling with the loss of their homes and property. Because these losses may have occurred over many years, the cumulative impact may not be recognized by older caregivers and families.

Family members, often busy with their work and children, may not be sensitive to the growing loss of an elder.

Not knowing each person who has died well enough, or not knowing them at all, can be difficult for loved ones to listen to or empathize with. Sometimes the family does not understand how important it is to provide transportation for the funeral when another of their grandparents' friends dies. It is important that we practical psychologists, when working with older people, take into account the impact of accumulated grief. The symptoms of cumulative grief can be obscured by what appears to be a physical illness, mental disorder, or even dementia. An incorrect diagnosis results in a treatment that misses the underlying problem. Research has shown that the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness that are signs of depression may actually be the result of untreated grief. In such cases, direct treatment of complicated grief led to significantly better results than treatment of depression.

Cumulative grief is a poorly understood problem in older people. Until that happens, it is important for those of us who are asked to treat an elderly person to be aware of the unique problems associated with the multiple losses that arise in old age.