Bhubaneswar: With the onset of old age, persons venturing into their twilight years often find it tough to manage their anxiety arising from the changes in circumstances around them, experts dealing with the senior citizens claim.
According to doctors and psychiatrists who often deal with the elderly, ageing often affects the psyche of the elder persons. However they claim that some minor modification in their lifestyles can improve the quality of their lives drastically.
“A lot of older people develop anxiety disorder. Loneliness often leads to trauma and stress among the elderly. Death of their partner or children living far away can be reasons for their loneliness. This is also escalated by sleep disorders,” said Amrit Pattojoshi, a city-based psychiatrist.
He also added that onset of dementia (memory loss) also starts in many cases after the age of 65 years. He said, “However, people in many cases, realise the gravity of their problem late. Many continue to think that dementia and other disorders are signs of ageing and thus shun medical advice which is of prime importance.”
The psychiatrist claims that there are many ways to rejuvenate the lives of the elders and with strong will power they can potentially change the quality of life and reduce their stress levels to live a normal life.
“There are several ways like meeting more people, especially from their peer group. Weekly get-togethers are a good idea. Forming groups to support a social cause can also help them to overcome stress.”
Others believe that under stress the elderly sometimes get into drug abuse which can only aggravate their medical conditions. “Many a times, the elderly start consuming alcohol to beat the loneliness and stress. However this is likely to aggravate their medical conditions. Socialising and counseling can help them cope up with the stress,” said Pooja Shah, a physician.
She also said that with old age, ailments like increased blood pressure, dementia and prostate enlargement affect the elder population but with proper medications, meditation and yoga can improve their quality of life exponentially.
