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The fastest-growing group of people in the United States population are individuals aged 65 years and above. The rising numbers of older people are either individuals or immigrants of racial or ethnic minority sectors. Many of the older individuals benefit from excellent mental health. However, it is expected that the number of these individuals with behavioral and mental health conditions or problems will increase drastically from four million in the year 1970 to fifteen million by the year 2030. Mental health diseases or disorders such as depression, mania, dementia, anxiety, negatively affect an individual’s functioning ability and physical health, particularly in older people. Addressing these conditions or predicaments and treating most of the assumed mental health problems lead to reduced emotional suffering, decreased disability, improved quality of life, and better physical health for older individuals (American Psychological Association 2). In this case, the paper will address issues concerning geropsychology.
The study of one’s behavior and mind is referred to as psychology. On the other hand, geropsychology is one of the fields within psychology and it focuses on aging and the provision of health care services for older individuals. This field is interested in the adjustment or adaptation of older individuals to alterations that arise in lifelike chronic pain, medical problems or conditions, family associations, mental illnesses, and several other issues affecting elderly people (American Psychological Association 2).
History of geropsychology
Aging is one of the multifaceted areas in life where individuals find it hard to face while it’s complex for research and science technology to examine or study. In addition, its subjective features have all along been thought of and written about. Geropsychology history is short or long depending on whether an individual admits the long history of the culture of concepts on aging or whether the topic is only limited to the evolving of investigation on the transformations and alterations, which may happen in behavior. Research or study in geropsychology is a new subject issue though one may utilize the subjective date of the year 1950 to indicate the establishment of research and education institutions that offer doctoral degrees to students pursuing their studies in the area of aging psychology. From that time, individuals reflected for many years on their destiny and how people grow old (Birren & Schaie 3).
Geropsychology emphasize the apparent transformations or alterations, which happen in animal and human character associated with the length of life. Modification or adjustment of an individual’s behavior is mostly needed by an alteration in muscle and bones or disease. In addition, people’s behaviors are changed as people adjust to the environments where they grew up and became old. For instance, there is the procedure of retirement and adjusting to its effects on the economy. In its fullest perspective, the aging process of an individual due to ecological association; a special hereditary background is exhibited in certain physical and social surroundings and altered by the tactical capabilities of the person. On the other hand, aging has made people think of the likelihood of disease occurrences, dying, and the conversion of death (Birren & Schaie 4).
In the late 20th century, the population of older people has increased drastically when compared with history. For instance, from the year 1900 to 1990, the proportion of the older individuals aged 65 years and over has grown from four percent to thirteen percent. On the other hand, the percentage of young individuals who are eighteen years and below has reduced from forty percent to 26 percent. The extraordinary difference in the two sets of groups within the community can be described clearly as a result of the great improvement and development of health care and technology. In contrast to the common thoughts and depiction by the media, the older people are not a homogenous group. Approaches to the process of aging should consider the heterogeneous aspect of the older individuals particularly regarding their physical and mental health, gender, and cognitive functioning (Hersen & Hasselt 3-4).
Health and geropsychology
There are no proper or appropriate knowledge and skills among health care personnel especially clinical psychologists on the process of aging and suitable or appropriate techniques for working with older individuals. In addition, another challenge or barrier is the ageist feeling/attitude, which older individuals are not in a position to benefit from psychological medication/treatment since the predicaments with which older individuals frequently present (such as depression, sleep disorders, and memory problems) are considered as issues of normal or common aging and thus, untreatable. Professionals or health care personnel working with older individuals require to fight against self ageist attitudes if they are to successfully help what will be a progressively bigger population of their clients (Helmes & Gee 113-117).
Psychology works in associations all through from infancy to old age. It works by observing the pattern of an individual’s behavior and reason as to why they are occurring to promote and improve the life quality of the individual. During the older age, predicaments or challenges are several since there is a lot of alteration regarding health and though many diseases are not associated with the destruction of the processes of thinking, they are significant in the way the older individual approaches their day to day lives. For instance, an individual who is suffering from a chronic disease thinks that the illness is oppressing them and can experience tough periods of mental and physical disorders like depression and anxiety among others. As a result, these diseases will change the concept of the reactions of the older individual and their degree of agreement or acceptance (Bretagne par.2).
Benefits of geropsychology
Geropsychologists play an important duty in solving mental health problems and offering strengths and support to the drastically increasing population of older people. Collectively, neuropsychologists offer approximately 50,000 hours of health care every week to older individuals. Studies carried out indicate that most students undertaking courses like psychology doctoral are focused on working with and anticipate offering medical services to older individuals during their professional. In addition, geropsychologists offer services to older individuals in several settings like medical care systems, society-based groups, or private activities, areas where older individuals dwell like their homes, hospices, and long-term medical care and assisted-living facilities. These psychologists work in collaboration with other professionals like clinical and other health care personnel in the mental field to render quality and comprehensive care (American Psychological Association 3).
Demand for practitioners dealing with mental health in the population of older adults will increase as the population of older adults grows. In addition services on mental health are anticipated to increase as large groups of middle-aged people who have more knowledge on mental health services when compared with the current population of older individuals, proceed into old age. According to studies, approximately two-thirds of the older population suffering from mental health problems lack appropriate services. This predicament is rampant in underserved individuals and rural setups like individuals dwelling in poverty and some racial and ethnic groups. In addition, most of the older individuals need treatment in case they are depressed. In case they are offered several medications for depression, older people mostly opt for psychological services. As a result, they say that they feel comfortable when they obtain mental health services from skilled professionals (American Psychological Association 3)
Mental health disorders affecting the older adults
To assist older individuals overcome various challenges like late-life stressors and mental health illnesses or disorders they face in life, psychologists utilize several psychological techniques or interventions. These interventions include psychodynamic, interpersonal, and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy; cognitive training methods, environmental alteration, and disease management, and behavior modification measures. The above-mentioned psychological interventions have been confirmed to be efficient in treating several mental health illnesses or disorders (American Psychological Association 4).
Some of the mental disorders experienced by older adults include; anxiety disorders, depression, mania, and dementia disorders. Firstly, there is anxiety, which refers to chronic fear and continues if there is no direct threat. It is referred to as anxiety disorder in case it becomes so dangerous that it affects the normal functioning of the body. These types of disorders involve several medical problems, which share pathological or extreme anxiety as the main emotional tone or mood disturbance. All anxiety disorders are related to different feelings of anxiety-like worry, despondency, or fear and with various physiological stress reactions like hypertension, tachycardia, high glucocorticoid level, nausea, breathing difficulty, and sleep disturbances. There are various types of anxiety disorders; panic disorders that have or have no agoraphobia history, acute stress disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, phobic anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and generalized anxiety disorders (Satcher 156).
The cause of anxiety disorder is not well defined. However, the etiology is understood to be a combination of psychological character, hereditary factors, and life experiences. These disorders are so diverse that the comparative responsibilities of these factors differ sometimes. It is known that older women are at a higher risk than older men of being affected by an anxiety disorder. Although it is not well understood why there are theories which state that the main cause is due to gonadal steroids’ roles. In addition, it is known that older women face a wider range of experiences in daily life that are demanding and stressful when compared with their counterpart older men. Treatments for anxiety disorder include pharmacotherapy, counseling, or psychotherapy either as a single form of treatment or in combination. The two groups of drugs used to remedy anxiety disorder include serotonin agonists (buspirone) and benzodiazepines (diazepam and chlordiazepoxide) (Pinel 18).
Secondly, older adults are greatly affected by depression, which is a reaction that is normal and it leads to a grievous loss like the loss of a beloved person, job, personal possessions, health, or self-esteem. Depression is categorized into two major groups; reactive depression, which is caused by negative experience and, endogenous depression, which has no apparent cause. Most depressive patients suffer from periods of mania and they are said to suffer from a disorder called bipolar affective while those who do not experience mania periods are said to suffer from a disorder called unipolar affective. Depression theories include monoamine theory and the diathesis-stress model. Monoamine theory indicates that depression is related to under-activity at noradrenergic and serotonergic synapses. On the other hand, the diathesis-stress model shows that some individuals acquire a hereditary susceptibility or diathesis that is not able to start the disorder by itself. Antidepressant drugs that include tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, selective monoamine reuptake inhibitors like fluoxetine and lithium can be used to remedy the disorder in older adults. They act by hindering the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin hence leading to an increase in brain levels. In addition, they apply combative effects on serotonergic communication through hindering serotonin re-uptake from synapses. Side effects of the drugs include the cheese effect, which causes stroke due to blood pressure surges (Pinel 10-13).
Bipolar disorder is also referred to as mania depressive disorder and affects also older adults. It is a psychotic disorder that is caused by brain tumors and drug abuse. It consists of the following symptoms; distractibility, overconfidence, excitement, extravagance, elevated mood, grandiosity, recklessness, high energy, and impulsivity. People suffering from mild mania are energetic, talkative, very confident, and positive. When it becomes very serious it results in dangerous medical problems. Theories associated with mania include psychodynamic and biological theories. The psychodynamic theory describes the concept in which mania is at times related to depression hence mania may be an effort of a person to cover for the feelings of depression and loss. Biologic theories consist of many neurochemical abnormalities though they have no consensus existing (Shaner 133). Drugs used to treat mania in older people include lithium, tranquilizers, lamotrigine, topiramate, and carbamazepine. These drugs act as mood stabilizers and also act by blocking or hindering neurotransmitter dopamine receptors and allowing the working of serotonin to continue though in a reduced capacity. Side effects related to these drugs include neuroleptic malignant syndrome (Giannini, Houser, Loiselle, Giannini 1600-1604).
The next disorder that affects most the older adults is dementia. This is a severe mental illness. It is affects the cognitive areas; attention, problem solving, memory and language. It might be stagnant, the outcome of the particular brain damage or progressive, leading to long-term reduction in the function of the cognitive because to disease or damage within the body further than the anticipated disorders of normal aging. Dementia symptoms are categorized as irreversible or reversible depending with the cause of the disorder. These symptoms include jaundice, pain and shortness of breath. The etiology of dementia is dependent on the age at which the symptoms start. In the older adults, several cases are as a result of vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or even both (Lancet 170-172).
As individuals age, they face several health predicaments and these problems related to aging have a considerable pain burden. Therefore, between 25 percent and 50 percent of the elderly population face continuous pain. Though continuous pain in elderly people is hard to communicate, diagnose and medicate, lack to cater for continuous pain has significant quality of life, psychosocial and functional effects to individuals who are susceptible. Treatment for older adults suffering from dementia involves friends and family members contributing in taking care of the person by studying or learning to identify as evaluate their pain. Some of the drugs that have been approved and are used to treat the person include donepezil, rivastigmine, tacrine and galantamine (Brown 372).
Other aging problems
There is reasonable evidence for age-associated reductions in cognition including reductions in explicit memory, executive language and functions like alienated attention. In addition, such declines or alterations are seen among the individuals who are screened carefully, with no evidence of medical conditions. This indicates that the amplified occurrence of illness with growing age is not an exceptional measure leading to changes in cognition that are age-related. In addition, aging is related to several alterations created by cognitive changes and disease. Some of these alterations occur slowly and introduce unanticipated alterations to the self. Whether the onset of the disease is gradual or sudden, they result to dysfunction and attempts for fight against them can lead to multifaceted and at times devastating medications or treatments. Functional changes due to disease-induced factors and, real and supposed stigmatization can result to one pulling out from responsibilities in the society hence decrease in economic resources (Birren & Schaie 161).
Consequently, alterations in the endocrine system that is associated with aging include alterations in the quantity of circulating sex and glucocorticoids hormones. In addition, changes that occur in the hypothalamus may lead to enlarged levels hormones that are associated with male andropause and female menopause. These physiological changes consist of the hormone concentration cross-over where the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone reduce of decline with age with. On the contrary some hormones like luteinizing and follicle-stimulating hormone increase or enhance with age. This hormone concentration crossover as a result has effects on the immune function since sex hormones lead to thymic involution, eventually leading to poorer or lower immune responses Aldwin, Park & Spiro 210).
Similarly, aging in the immune system cells might be associated with a rising firmness of the cell membranes of the lymphocytes, which leads to the incapability of particular receptors to attach to hormones or antigens. Moreover, there might be inconsistency in the transduction or action of signals initiated between the cell membranes and nucleus. These may hinder the binding of hormones and antigens. In addition, there are alterations in certain forms of immune cells, basically the T-cells, β-cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. Most of the alterations in the T-cells working or functioning with age are associated to thymus involution. These alterations enhance the increased vulnerability of older individuals to physical stressors. As a result they are not in a better position to control their body temperatures as young people are hence they become susceptible to diseases (Aldwin, Park & Spiro 211).
Conclusion
In conclusion, mental health illnesses or disorders such as depression, mania, anxiety and dementia negatively affect individual’s functioning ability and physical health particularly in the older people. Addressing these conditions or predicament and treating most of the assumed mental health problems lead to reduced emotional suffering, decreased disability, improved quality of life and better physical health for the older individuals. There has been a historical over-emphasis on the decrements of older age to the neglect of identifying the positive benefits that accompany getting older. The former are easier to define and operationalise than the latter. Identifying and removing environmental constraints, including negative ageist stereotypes and lack of knowledge, will do a great deal towards enabling the potential of older adults to be expressed. This can only be achieved through geropsychology that focuses on aging and provision of health care services for the older individual.
Works cited
Aldwin Mark, Park Leynen, & Spiro Alremn. Coping, Health and Aging. Handbook of health psychology and aging. 2007. Web.
American Psychological Association. Psychology and Aging: Addressing Mental Health Needs of Older Adults. Psychologists Make a Significant Contribution. 2009. Web.
Birren Estern, & Schaie, Wilnch. The history of Geropsychology. Handbook of the psychology of aging. 2001. Web.
Bretagne, Robert. Geropsychology: Psychology of older adults. 2009. Web.
Brown, Charles. Pain, aging and dementia: The crisis is looming, but are we ready?. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72 (8), 2009, : 371-75.
Giannini Antonly, Houser Weihmer, Loisell Richard, Giannini Moris, & Price Watcher. Antimanic effects of verapamil. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 1984,1600-1604
Helmes Endren, & Gee Socher. Development of a training program in clinical geropsychology. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 19(3), 2000, 113-117.
Hersen Michel, & Hasselt Vilvit. Historical perspectives. Handbook of clinical geropsychology. 1998. Web.
Lancet. Pathological correlates of late-onset dementia in a multicentre, community-based population in England and Wales. Neuropathology Group of the Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC CFAS), 357, 2001, 169–75
Pinel, James. Genetic profile Behavioral Neuroscience of Psychiatric Disorders the Brain Unhinged. Basics of Biopsychology, Allyn & Bacon. 2007.
Satcher, David. Adult and mental health. Mental health: A report of the surgeon general. 2009. Web.
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