Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
7 - The psychology of atypical ageing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The biology of ageing
- 3 Fostering resilience, promoting health and preventing disease in older adults
- 4 Ageing and health
- 5 Social care and older people
- 6 Cognitive processes and ageing
- 7 The psychology of atypical ageing
- 8 Sociological perspectives on ageing
- 9 Retirement
- 10 Sexuality and ageing
- 11 Policies on ageing
- 12 Cross-cultural differences in ageing
- 13 Technology and ageing
- 14 Literary portrayals of ageing
- 15 Palliative care for older adults
- 16 Conclusions
- Index
- References
Summary
OVERVIEW
This chapter examines types of atypical conditions probabilistically associated with ageing, including mood disorders (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), the dementias, mild cognitive impairment and psychological interventions in later life.
Introduction
What is ‘atypical ageing’? The increased variation among older adults results, in a sense, in no one person's experience of ageing being typical. All are individuals, all unique, all different. Ageing challenges our concepts of normality and abnormality. For example, osteoarthritis is very common in older people, affecting half of women over 65, and so the ‘normal’ or typical older adult may expect to have this often painful and disabling condition. This does not stop us from seeking understanding of and treatment for this condition, and aspiring to an experience of ageing where it is less prevalent. Similarly, when we consider some of the psychological problems experienced by older people, some are very common, but we can elect to view them as outside the range of a ‘typical’ ageing, where the older person experiences a good adjustment to the challenges and opportunities of later life.
This chapter covers the major psychological problems of ageing, focusing on mood disorders and the dementias, which may be said to be the most frequently encountered forms of abnormal or atypical ageing in this domain. Working with older people (or ‘the aged’ or ‘the elderly’ as they were then known) has been a recognized specialism within clinical psychology practice for over 30 years.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to Gerontology , pp. 194 - 225Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
- 4
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