Self-confidence and self-esteem
People usually want to live long, but less want to be old. In European countries, in the 2025 one quarter of the population will be older than sixty-five. We know that people after 65 can still be very vital, active, full of ideas, as well as expectations. However, aging is also accompanied by a variety of problems, both on the physical as psychological and social fields. These problems have various origins distress in the elderly, and may also cause distress to those who care for the elderly.
The most common source of distress in old age is the loss of not only the loss of loved ones (parter, friends), but also other events. Retirement may cause hard time due to job loss, which has fullfiled the individual for many years, the loss of status and loss of co-workers. During the period of aging are decreasing each physical or mental abilities. Distress that follows such a loss is serious, so it is important to stay physical and mental active.
Circle of friends and acquaintances slowly but steadily narrows. Some older people cannot or do not know how to find new friends. So they become alone and lonely, emotional support, which are offered by friends and acquaintances, is less and less available. It seems to them that they are worthless, that they no longer know anything and they can lose confidence in themself. Personal distress is joined by general attitudes towards older people, often handling nearby, which in its care for the elderly intentionally or unintentionally reduce older people control over their own lives. This leads to lower self-esteem, which may be followed by apathy or even depression.
Elderly will be emotionally affected when they are treated as a child, when we isolate them from their friends, when we prevent them from taking activities they are still capable of, if we don`t communicate enough with them.
Why do people in older age have lowers self-esteem, particularly physical and social?
On the one hand, self-esteem depends on the satisfaction we obtaine with some activities and achievements, on the other hand, it is the self-reflection of the environment to ourselves. If we are underestimated by the environment, our self-esteem falls rapidly. Unfortunately, the elderly are all too often undervalued and ignored.
How do people perceive or experience age?
Most people in older age are wondering what do we have left, what we can still do by ourself, without the help of others. One of the most common reactions is retreat, because people think that when we get old there is nothing left to do. People with this mentality sit at home and rarely are engaged in any activity. Other individuals, those who are more positive, take a look at what lies ahead and it is still possible to achieve and experience. Those people are often very active and their engine work continues at full speed. In the third period of life, markedly changes the human conception of world and life, which also affects the thinking and behavior of the individual.
What does active aging mean?
Active aging means taking various activities in the age to maintain a good living condition, there will be times when older people will going to need help from the social environment, as short and painless for the elderly and for the environment. Active aging is aging, in which the individual is still physically active. Some people are more mentally active in that age, some more physically active. The best ones are of course those who thrive in old age combine physical and mental activity. Only physical activity, even in old age, makes the bold individual. Capacities in old age, of course, are no longer, such as they were in their youth, but those who already have a motivation at a young age will also have it in old age.