Successful Aging Essay

Successful Aging Essay

Successful aging comprises features including; empowerment and productivity, physical health, independence, financial security, psychological stability and social life among others. However, some people might prioritize those features differently depending on how best they suit them. Additionally, successful aging depends on one’s perspective since some people may think aging successfully gets to be financial stability health wellness alone; while others would think may be having balanced growth in all aspects of life is successful aging.


                                                       Physcial aging

Physical wellness is a factor that contributes enormously in successful aging since it entails the general physicality of a human being. In chapter 5 (Adult Developing and Aging) health and prevention issues get addressed. As indicated in this chapter chronic diseases can extensively interfere with the quality of an individual’s daily life causing effects like anxiety and pain, limitation of activity and difficulty in performing effortless cognitive duties. Furthermore, for aging adults, physical sickness can also lead to complicated factors particularly in the treatment or diagnosis of psychological disorders. Although it is significant to distinguish sicknesses from normal aging, there are incredible chronic illnesses to which individual become increasingly vulnerable with age.  The most common and chronic illnesses associated with aging adults are diseases of the cardiovascular system such as cancer, stroke and high blood pressure among others. These kinds of illnesses are preventable since most of them require physical exercises, and feeding well.  Some people say that successful aging is only having healthy a body since the body holds the fullness of humanity. However, I would suggest that successful aging encompasses psychological fitness, physical wellness, social fitness and cognitive stability.


                                                                                                               Personality

Personality on an aging individual can be determined by one’s choice of behavior reaction. Feud focuses on the psychodynamic perspective particularly on explaining the human unconscious mind. In this theory, affirms that personality does not change after nearly childhood. He adds that the work of personality development gets completed by the age of 5 when child goes on with the early childhood sexual attachments to the parents. In addition, he believed that older adults could not change personality since it gets virtually completed during the child’s early child hood.


                                                  The Interview response

During the interview with an aging relative, I discovered that he was an example of what I consider being successful aging. The elderly man gets to work on his physical exercises each as every morning. He begins by undertaking a cross country run for about two and a half hours then comes back to lift some weight. According to him, these physical exercises enable him to flex his muscles to avoid cases of muscle pull. According to chapter 5(Pg 103) prevention exercise as a vital component of all the preventive programs has helped him from getting chronic heart diseases like obesity and high blood pressure.


On a different start, he stated that he is so ardent on his diet since balanced diet supports healthy living. According to chapter1 use of a diet with lots of vegetables and fruit fundamentally reduces mortality. The significant part of taking this kind of diet is mainly because it reduces chances of developing cardiovascular illnesses. Furthermore, taking Mediterranean foods such as the nuts, vegetables, oils, milk fish and low amounts of red meat has kept the grandee healthy and seemingly younger in looks. Taking much water after running for long has enabled him not to dehydrate due to the excessive loss of water through sweat. Furthermore, grandee argued that he makes sure to eat foods rich in minerals such as zinc, magnesium and calcium among other minerals. He added that, a mineral such as calcium provides the strength needed by his bone, which makes his bones strong and healthy.


In the book, the author discloses the importance of healthy bones for the aging people. On the topic, a “joints” joints problem begins when arterial cartilages get finished in the body and the painful experience e takeover. Aging people who do not take enough calcium fit foods get prone to getting joints problems because of the reduced amounts of cartilages in the joint areas. The interviewer commented that he has friends of the same age who complain on joint pains, but he has already taught them how to maneuver those complications. The other response point we focused on dealt with changes that occur on the hair.


According to the book color change on the hair occurring on the aging people does not literally turn gray rather the number of pigmented (colored hair) disappears over time while the number of the hairs that are no longer pigmented double. What causes hair to lose its original color is loss of melanin, which provides hair with color. Researcher’s claim that loss of melanin does not only affect the aging people, but sometimes even the young people (20) can be affected. Furthermore, the book suggests that the hair colour change can also affect the young people since genetic factors can also contribute towards the change of hair color. Like Feud believes that personality is complete in the early childhood, I realized the same personality approach on my interviewer.


Although he did not meet 100% of Feud’s ideology he mentioned that he could vividly recall some childhood characters which he has carried to adulthood,.  For example, some of the moral virtues like giving thanks, apologizing just to mention but a few. Feud also used the term “id” explaining the deepest part of the unconscious mind. In addition, he added that it is part of the personality that finds fulfillment of desires that would lead to wrong deeds such as stealing raping among other immoral acts. However, the id is guarded by Ego which is the conscious mind the enables one to reason consciously. As if not enough, the ego helps in protecting individuals from the knowledge of the id’s unacceptable stimuli. The ego sets of protective mechanisms that keep them out of conscious awareness.  According to Feud the humans need to gain the ability to love care and work for a living in order to survive peacefully.


The grandee also confirmed being a successful aging person due to his financial management and security for his finances. Although he is not a tycoon he had managed to own a business empire which is a security for his future, as well as, his grand children. His social life according to my analysis is stable since he is socially active. His participation in various city developments earned him a title “The people’s man”. Furthermore, the interviewer also shared his experience as a political aspirant during the years 1920’s. These engagements assured me of his indulgence in political affairs and other relationships. This interviewer truly proved to be a real example of what I consider being successful aging.


                                                            Reference:

Whitbourne K. S & Whitbourne B. S (2011) Adult development and aging: Biopsychosocial perspectives





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