First, the significance of mental health care for the elderly
Mental health care and mental health problems of the elderly are of great significance for the elderly to have a healthy body and a good attitude. The traditional concept of health holds that the body is healthy and free from diseases. With the establishment of modern medical model, people's understanding of health has changed greatly. The new concept of health is that the body and mind are in a state of peace and harmony, which is the coordinated development of physique and mentality, that is, not only a good body, but also the best psychological state. Modern medicine has proved that mental health is closely related to physical health. If mental health is unhealthy, it will seriously affect the quality of life, and eventually it will inevitably affect or even damage physical health. Therefore, learning mental health care knowledge, mastering mental health care means, learning to live happily physically and mentally, and establishing a new mental health concept are important conditions for every elderly person to live a long and healthy life.
Ji Kang, a famous health care scientist in Wei and Jin Dynasties in China, pointed out in On Difficult Health Care in Xiangzi Period: "There are five difficulties in health care, and fame and fortune cannot be extinguished; Emotions and sorrows are not only difficult; It is difficult to get rid of these three difficulties; The taste is endless, and there are four difficulties; God thinks about forwarding these five difficulties. " "Five is not in my chest, then I believe in the Japanese classics, and Liu Bei is full every day. You will be blessed if you don't pray for happiness, and you will live longer if you don't pray for life. This is also the effect of Dali health care. " (Volume 48 of the Three Kingdoms) Of the five difficulties mentioned here, four are psychological, which means almost all of them are related to psychology. It can be seen that the ancient health experts mainly talked about mental health. In modern society, mental health is an important part of the concept of health under the mode of physiology, psychology and social medicine, and it is also one of the indispensable contents in the evaluation of the quality of life and health measurement of the elderly.
1. Physiological basis of mental health care for the elderly
Psychological research and life practice show that positive emotions are beneficial to health, while negative emotions have adverse effects on health, because emotions have their physiological mechanisms. When people are in an emotional state, it will cause a series of physiological reactions inside and outside the body. Physiological and psychological research shows that when people are angry, their heart beats faster, often reaching 80-200 beats/minute; Blood pressure rises, and systolic blood pressure rises from normal1.30mm Hg to above 230mm Hg. Breathing can reach 40-50 times per minute. When people are afraid or suddenly frightened, their breathing is aggravated, short and even interrupted; The heartbeat is accelerated, increasing by 20 times per minute; Blood pressure will also rise. When people are anxious and depressed, they will inhibit gastrointestinal peristalsis and secretion of digestive juice. For the elderly, negative emotions such as depression, worry and anger are often psychological factors that trigger or stimulate certain diseases. For example, due to excessive depression or fear, it will lead to diseases such as myocardial infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. Clinical practice has proved that many cancer patients have had persistent negative emotions or suffered major emotional setbacks before the onset. Biological experiments show that negative emotional factors will reduce people's brain activity function, cause immunity decline and reduce the body's anti-cancer ability. When there are other internal and external factors, cancer can be formed. On the contrary, positive emotions can improve health and prolong life. As the saying goes, "Smile and you will be ten years old." According to research, laughter can promote the level of activation inside the body. Laugh once, the transverse membrane in the body can peristalsis 18 times, while the peristalsis of small smile is slightly smaller, and laughter can promote muscle relaxation. Clinical observation shows that a lot of pain is caused by muscle tension. Laughter can reduce or relieve muscle tension, thus reducing or eliminating pain. These mainly explain the direct influence and significance of mental health care on the individual health of the elderly.
2. Social basis of mental health care for the elderly
Stepping into old age, quitting the leading role of family and social work is a great opportunity created by society for the elderly to enjoy their old age and an important symbol of social progress. But before and after retirement, it often causes psychological changes of some old comrades. A considerable number of people have some psychological problems, such as emptiness, loneliness, anxiety, sadness and depression. Because they are difficult to adapt. People call it retirement syndrome. According to the survey, there is a high incidence of people who are competitive, enterprising, rigorous in work, stubborn in character, competitive and suddenly retired due to lack of psychological preparation. Sociological research on aging shows that retirement syndrome is mainly caused by sense of loss, emptiness and nostalgia. The sense of loss will make people feel that old age is really a lost period of life, losing their jobs, laws, status, advantages and interpersonal relationships, and then think that old age is the end of life; A sense of emptiness can make people feel idle, life is boring, life is boring, and everything is nothing; Nostalgia can easily remind people of the good old days, especially their own experience of going through five hurdles and beheading six generals. On second thought, it's long gone, but now it's cold and desolate. When I miss my colleagues and friends in the past, I find that some are dead, some are widowed, some are sick in bed, and some are thousands of miles away, and there is no chance to meet each other again. It is inevitable that they will be infinitely desolate. Statistics show that retirement syndrome generally takes half a year to a year to react, and it takes a little longer for individuals. This phenomenon is a big problem for most newly retired veteran comrades, which affects their physical and mental health. In particular, this is a phenomenon of the elderly group that can not be ignored, which should be highly valued by the whole society. In other words, discussing and solving this problem will be of great guiding significance to the physical and mental health of the retired elderly.
Second, the basic definition of mental health standards for the elderly
Professor Xu, a famous geriatric psychologist in China, summarized the mental health standards of the elderly into five items: ① Love life and work; Feel comfortable and happy; ③ Emotional stability and strong adaptability; 4 cheerful and reasonable; ⑤ Strong interpersonal adaptability.
Foreign experts have made a detailed study on the mental health standards of the elderly, and they have formulated the reference standard of 10: ① having a full sense of security; (2) fully understand yourself and make an appropriate estimate of your ability; ③ Have realistic goals and ideals; ④ Keep in touch with the real environment; (5) can maintain the integrity and harmony of personality; ⑥ Ability to learn from experience; All landowners can maintain good interpersonal relationships; ⑧ Mild mood and control; Pet-name ruby under the premise of not violating the collective consciousness to play a limited personality; Attending in the case of not violating social ethics, can appropriately meet the basic needs of individuals.
Based on the research of psychologists at home and abroad on the mental health standards of the elderly, combined with the actual situation of the elderly in China, we believe that the mental health standards of the elderly can be basically defined from the following five aspects.
1. Have normal feeling and perception, normal thinking and good memory. In other words, when judging things, they are basically accurate and have no illusions; When recalling the past, the memory is clear and there is no big forgetting; When analyzing problems, the thinking is clear and there is no logical confusion; When answering questions, be able to answer freely and not answer irrelevant questions; In normal life, I have rich imagination and am good at designing a happy goal for myself with imagination.
2. Have a sound personality. Emotional stability and strong will. There are more positive emotions than negative ones, so you can correctly evaluate yourself and external things, control your own behavior, and do things less blindly and impulsively. Strong willpower, able to withstand the strong stimulation of external things. You can find a way to vent when you are sad, and you won't be overwhelmed by sadness. When you are happy, you can be moderately happy. Don't get carried away and get too excited. When encountering difficulties, you can calmly overcome them with your own will and experience instead of sighing or complaining.
3. Have good interpersonal relationships. Willing to help others and willing to accept others' help. At home, you can maintain emotional harmony with your wife, children, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandson, granddaughter and nephew. And you can get the heartfelt understanding and respect from your family. Outside, you can keep good relations with your past friends and present friends. Not seeking perfection, not demanding others, not hostile to others, but always appearing in a kind attitude. There is a sense of collective honor and social responsibility in both formal and informal groups.
4. Being able to correctly recognize the society is consistent with most people's psychological activities. Such as views on society, attitudes towards reform, analysis of domestic and international situations, and understanding of social morality and ethics, can be basically consistent with the attitudes of most people in society. If this is not the case, it is not accepting society and can't keep up with the progress of the times.
5. Can maintain normal behavior. Can adhere to normal life, work, study, entertainment and other activities. All his actions are in line with his position and role in various occasions.
The above five aspects are only the basic standards to define the mental health of the elderly. Because many experts and scholars at home and abroad have put forward many specific standards from their own research perspectives. But no matter how many standards, the most important one is "basically normal", that is, speaking and doing things, understanding problems, logical thinking and interpersonal communication are in a normal state. As long as it does not deviate from the "normal" track, then its mental health is up to standard.
Third, how to understand and grasp several important factors of mental health care for the elderly.
The mental health of the elderly is determined by many factors. Generally speaking, there are four aspects. One is physiological factors. When people get old, their brains and other physiological functions begin to deteriorate. If this time can effectively delay brain aging, it will undoubtedly lay a good foundation for people's mental health. If the brain ages too fast or individuals can't adjust themselves well, it may lead to psychological disorders. The second is environmental factors. People's mental health is directly related to the environment. If we live in a good and harmonious environment, people's mental health will have a good external environment. If you live in an environment where you are often subjected to vicious stimulation, you may have bad psychology and even psychopathy. The third is the life factor. Meaningful activities and good living habits are beneficial to people's mental health. If you take part in some unhealthy activities, such as gambling and drinking, it will damage people's mental health. The fourth is cultural factors. A person with high cultural literacy will have a correct attitude towards life, be able to correctly handle all setbacks and misfortunes encountered on the road of life, and will not cause psychological obstacles because of unexpected situations.
Then, how can the elderly achieve a long life and take a high-quality life and a happy body and mind into their own hands? According to China's ancient and modern health preserving theory and practice, the author sums it up into four words, namely "moving", "benevolence", "wisdom" and "happiness", which are summarized as follows for the reference of the elderly friends.
1. "Moving" means moving more. "Life lies in exercise." Practice has proved that exercise not only delays aging, but also the research of biologists proves that the human body "uses in and wastes out", and the ancients long ago put forward that "immobility leads to aging". An expert on the elderly in Japan pointed out, "You want to prolong your life and move towards middle age." Therefore, the elderly should pay attention to strengthening moderate physical exercise, step by step, and persevere. As the saying goes, "Walk a hundred paces after a meal and live to ninety-nine" is the truth.
2. "Benevolence" means kindness and generosity. "Benevolent people live long" has been proved by the practice of countless long-lived elderly people. In life, we can see that almost all long-lived old people are kind and kind. American psychologists' research shows that sympathy and helping others are also beneficial to a person's mental health. The psychology department of Harvard University once did an experiment to let students watch a film of Indian women helping the sick and poor. After watching the movie, the saliva of the students was analyzed, and it was found that the A immunoglobulin in the students increased obviously. Experts come to the conclusion that giving sympathy and help to others' misfortunes can improve their own immune mechanism. People often say: "the bottom of my heart is selfless, and the world is wide", "good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil", that is to say, generosity is not only beneficial to others, but also to myself. An old doctor who is over 90 years old but in good health said, "I can't be selfless, but I take the word' few people' as my motto." There are many advantages of' few people'. I can be happy and broad-minded. Fame and fortune are indifferent, and less competition with others will make you calm and healthy. I have today's health, perhaps because I am generous to others, always thinking of others and concentrating on my work. "
3. "Wisdom" means diligent study, scientific use of the brain, especially good at guiding health care with scientific knowledge. When the elderly enter the second life, the most important psychological preparation is to study again, enrich their spiritual life and delay the aging of their brains. "Trees are always afraid of emptiness, and people are always afraid of looseness." It is never too old to learn. There are many things to learn in old age, such as self-care, sociology of aging, psychology of aging, home economics and so on. At the same time, we should understand major events, social changes, new knowledge and new ideas at home and abroad and keep up with the times. In addition, you should update your professional knowledge and skills, and learn two skills with the characteristics of the new era, such as playing computer and surfing the Internet. "The online world is really wonderful", and there are many things on the Internet that are worthy of surprises for the elderly.
4. "Happiness" means being optimistic and curious, and always maintaining a positive mental state. A few years ago, I summed up three sentences in the article "On the negative influence of modern families on the physical and mental health of the elderly and the adjustment countermeasures", namely, "Face up to reality and accept challenges; Optimistic and open-minded, enjoy old age; Adapt to today and meet tomorrow. " In other words, as long as everyone can be optimistic and open-minded, keep pace with the times and maintain a positive attitude towards life, then their quality of life and life value will have greater social significance. Marx once said a famous saying: "A good mood can solve the fatigue and pain of the body more than ten drugs." Happiness and open-mindedness are precious resources. We should not only enjoy them, but also be good at exploring. Gao Xiangxuan, a famous painter in Qing Dynasty, once summed up the "Ten Music Health Preservation and Life Extension Methods": ① The joy of cultivation. (2) The pleasure of sweeping the floor. 3 Teach children happiness. 4 contentment is always happy. (5) the happiness of a quiet life. 6. The pleasure of speaking. ⑦ The pleasure of walking. 8 the fun of taking a bath. Pet-name ruby the joy of lying high. Attending the pleasure of showing your back. It can be described as the epitome of "happy life", and contemporary elderly friends should follow suit.
The above four words about mental health care for the elderly can also be summarized as "longevity for those who make meritorious deeds, longevity for those who are benevolent, longevity for the wise and longevity for those who are happy". The connotation of these twelve words is very extensive and rich, so I won't go into details because of the limitation of space. In addition, the relationship between them is organic, interpenetrating and complementary.
Four, some suggestions on doing a good job in the mental health care of the contemporary elderly.
According to scientific speculation, the natural life span of human beings should be longer than the actual life span now. However, due to illness, trauma or psychological and social adverse effects, people failed to reach their life expectancy and died prematurely. Common diseases that harm the elderly are cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and cancer. These diseases are all chronic non-communicable diseases, and they are all "psychosomatic diseases", and more than 50% of them are caused by bad lifestyles and behaviors (including bad mood, smoking, alcoholism, overeating, lack of sleep and rest, etc.). It can be seen that such diseases can be greatly reduced by changing bad lifestyles and psychological behaviors. Therefore, active and effective measures should be taken to provide psychological counseling services for the elderly in time and guide them to carry out self-psychological adjustment and self-care, so as to continuously improve the quality of life and physical and mental health of the elderly. Below, I will talk about some thoughtful suggestions based on the current situation of mental health care for the elderly in China, so as to attract the attention of everyone and the whole society.
1. We should understand the mental health care of the elderly from the perspective of social security and healthy aging. In other words, the mental health of the elderly is not only a matter for medical institutions and retirement management departments, but also a matter for the whole society. Every family has a hard experience, and everyone will get old. The whole society, from top to bottom, should care about the mental health care of the elderly in an all-round way, and should take active measures to support the mental health care of the elderly in order to continuously improve the consciousness of the mental health care of the elderly in the whole society.
2 vigorously publicize the successful models of mental health care for the elderly, and extensively carry out publicity and education on mental health care for the elderly. As far as we know, the popularity of mental health care education for the elderly in China is still very low, and the urban elderly and cultural elderly still know a little, while in rural areas, the vast majority of illiterate elderly still know nothing about mental health care for the elderly. It should be said that our task in this respect is still great. We should also make use of all favorable conditions to carry out extensive publicity and education, actively guide the elderly to keep pace with the times in time, and establish a new concept of healthy mental health care for the elderly.
3. We should often organize some seminars on mental health care for the elderly, and timely summarize and popularize the scientific knowledge and methods of mental health care for the elderly. It is necessary to use modern means such as news media to organize some easy-to-understand lectures on mental health care for the elderly and introduce some scientific and healthy mental health care methods. We should make full use of towns, communities, retired departments and other relevant organizations to carry out psychological health care consulting services for the elderly in places where the elderly are concentrated.
4. We should vigorously create a barrier-free environment for the mental health of the elderly, and build and start the barrier-free project for the elderly in the whole society as soon as possible. The so-called "psychological barrier-free project for the elderly" means that the whole society cares and respects the elderly, and there are good facilities to respect and help them everywhere. Really let the elderly feel the dignity and independence of their personality, whether at home or in the community, and enjoy their old age carefree and comfortably. It should be said that this formulation seems to be a bit ahead of the times when China's economic, cultural and social modernization is not developed enough. However, judging from the trend of China's aging population and the social status quo of the mental health of the elderly, this formulation, as a long-term planning goal of aging work, must be put forward as soon as possible in order to make some preparations for relevant ideological public opinion as soon as possible. In fact, this formulation can be tested in some relatively developed cities or regions in China. Once progress or success is made, it will cause positive demonstration effects throughout the country.