In our ordinary student era, speaking of knowledge points, there should be no unfamiliarity, right? Knowledge point is the basic unit of transmitting information and plays an important role in improving learning navigation. So, what are the knowledge points? The following are the knowledge points of mental health of the elderly that I have compiled for you, hoping to help you.

Geriatric psychology and its research content

Gerontology, also known as gerontology and aging psychology. It is a science that studies the changes, characteristics and development laws of the psychological activities of the elderly. If the elderly want to make themselves physically and mentally healthy and delay aging, they must first understand and master their own physiological and psychological characteristics, adjust themselves and improve their quality of life. Helping elderly friends to do this is also the purpose of setting up the course of mental health care knowledge for the elderly in our university for the elderly.

Psychological characteristics of the elderly

After decades of hard struggle, the elderly who have experienced vicissitudes have gained valuable successful experiences and profound lessons of failure, and formed some characteristics in their psychological development. According to the observation and research of psychologists, the psychological characteristics of the general elderly are mainly as follows:

(1) Brain function and memory decline. This is the most common symptom of the elderly, and mental excitement and fatigue are intertwined. Excitement is mainly manifested in the increase of associative memory, confusion and meaningless thinking content, and distress; Lack of concentration, easily disturbed by irrelevant factors; Sensitive to external stimuli such as sound and light, easily excited. Mental fatigue is the main manifestation of brain function decline, sometimes accompanied by physical fatigue. If you are fidgety, nervous, even depressed and have a bad rest, you will yawn, be confused and sleepy when reading; I often feel that "the heart is willing, but the strength is insufficient." Memory decline, mental retardation, lack of creativity in thinking, but it has little effect on comprehensive analysis and judgment.

(2) Emotional instability, poor self-control, often controlled by negative emotions. Easily angered, angry or crying often leads to depression, anxiety, loneliness, autism and fear of death. (Case omitted) Indifferent to people and things outside, not easily aroused by the environment, and often negative words and deeds.

(3) tend to be conservative and stubborn.

Many elderly people have formed certain lifestyles and habits in years of social practice, and these lifestyles and habits are constantly strengthened with age. Therefore, when they evaluate and deal with things, they often stick to their own opinions, are unwilling to accept new things and new ideas, and are often self-centered, so it is difficult to correctly understand and adapt to the current situation of life. I often indulge in the past and regret the irreparable good past. Those who have achieved a little become arrogant and refuse to listen to harsh advice. Some people have become "old urchins", and their words and deeds are childish. But most old people are reasonable. As long as they study and discuss carefully, they will give up their opinions and obey the truth. (Case omitted)

(4) keen sense and accurate judgment

Most elderly people are sensitive, and they can use the valuable experience accumulated in their lives to guide their later practice. After careful consideration, they can have a deeper understanding of current things, make accurate judgments, avoid mistakes, and achieve "strategizing and winning thousands of miles."

(5) like quiet, afraid of loneliness, not tolerant of loneliness.

Psychologists have found that most elderly people don't like noisy environment and are willing to live, work and study in a quiet and leisure environment, because nerve inhibition is higher than excitement. Some old people often feel lonely when they leave the job they have worked hard for all their lives. In the family, many elderly people are willing to enjoy the joy of their children and grandchildren around their knees, but they are also uneasy about the continuous noisy environment. (Case omitted)

(6) Hope to live a long and healthy life

It is the common wish of the elderly to hope that their career will flourish, society will progress and future generations will grow sturdily. Therefore, they all hope to have a healthy body. Once sick, they hope to recover as soon as possible, leaving no sequelae, not adding burden to the younger generation, prolonging their lives as much as possible, and seeing their wishes come true.

Common psychological problems of the elderly

Generally speaking, when a person enters old age, he will generally go through four stages, namely, the stage of role transformation, the stage of adaptation, the stage of re-planning life and the stage of stability. In the process of these four stages, the elderly are gradually aging due to physical and mental difficulties, and are prone to some psychological problems.

First of all, the change of social role leads to psychological discomfort. It generally takes four stages for the elderly to stabilize after retirement.

The first stage is the expectation period (that is, the period before retirement, about half a year). Old people who voluntarily retire or are eager to retire often wait for retirement with a positive and optimistic attitude. Most of them have been fully satisfied in their work, have realized their self-worth or are tired of their work, so they can accept retirement calmly. For those who are unwilling to retire, their psychology is very contradictory. They are often worried about losing everything they have, because losing their jobs will change their social status. (Case omitted)

The second stage is retirement. (that is, the date of formal retirement). Some old people think that life after retirement is terrible. "What's the point of life if you do nothing every day?" ; Some old people can't restrain their inner joy and think, "We can finally go out and have a look around. Should we go to Yunnan or Inner Mongolia first? " I began to plan my travel route, and my happiness was beyond words.

The third stage is the adaptation period. (about a year or so). Retreating from a familiar working environment to a small circle like family, the content of life, the pace of life, the role and status played are very different. At this time, the elderly will feel idle and confused, resulting in irritability, anxiety, depression and other emotions. The adaptation time varies from person to person. Some people are easy to adjust, while others are difficult to adjust. For those who have a strong ambition and narrow interests, they stay at home all day after retirement and rarely communicate with others, their adaptability is even worse. People with cheerful personality and wide interests are easy to sit still, so at this adaptation stage, it is mainly to accept the reality, dare to face and admit it, make a smooth "soft landing", appropriately lower expectations, go out more, make more friends, understand the society and pay attention to the social level. In short, happiness and happiness are not for you, you can only find them yourself.

The fourth stage is the stable period. After a period of painful psychological struggle, the old man realized that his present situation could not be changed for various reasons, so he gradually became accustomed to turning his eyes to the family circle or looking for a second different spring in life.

Secondly, the psychological discomfort caused by family and family relations.

Family is the main living place for the elderly after retirement. The life and mental health of the elderly are inevitably influenced by the family structure, the relationship between family members and the status of the elderly in the family.

One is husband-wife relationship. The degree of love between elderly couples, whether widowed elderly people can remarry and whether the relationship between husband and wife after remarriage is harmonious have great influence on the mental health of the elderly.

The second is the relationship with children. Due to the influence of social culture, the relationship between the elderly and their children deserves more and more attention. Many old people are exhausted by worrying about their children; Losing a son or getting sick in his later years, or children competing for property regardless of brotherhood, will bring great pain to the elderly and cause great harm to their physical and mental health. There is also the filial piety of children or the tension between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will affect the mental health of the elderly.

The third is the relationship with grandchildren. Many old people often pin their hopes on their grandchildren, but due to the differences in social culture and educational background, it is easy to have differences with their grandchildren in concept. Some old people don't like the pampering of their grandchildren, their clothes and manners, and often have unpleasant emotions.

Third, aging, diseases and their psychological reactions.

First of all, aging and the psychological reaction of the elderly. With the growth of age, eyesight declines, hearing is slow, action response is slow, and social interaction decreases. All these aging changes may cause emotional anxiety, depression and loneliness of the elderly.

Second, the psychological impact of diseases on the elderly. Some diseases will directly affect the psychological function of the elderly. If you suffer from cerebral arteriosclerosis, due to insufficient blood supply to brain tissue, it can cause memory loss in the elderly, and even cause dementia in severe cases. Some patients with hypertension and coronary heart disease often feel irritable. Some elderly people are unable to take care of themselves because of long-term illness or even bedridden, and feel that they are a burden to their families, with no hope for the future and anxiety and depression.

Common psychological changes of the elderly

With the growth of age and physical weakness, the psychology of the elderly is also changing. According to the research, there are mainly the following points:

(1) has a sense of aging.

We often hear some old friends express such feelings: "I am old and useless!" " "This is the subjective sense of aging of the elderly, that is, realizing that they are old. There are many reasons why old people feel old.

The first is the change of physical and mental state and the decline of perceptual ability. For example, hair changes from white hair to gray hair, striding like flying into stumbling, full of energy into weakness and so on.

The second is the change of life, work and social environment. Such as retirement, separation from children, death of relatives and friends, etc.

In addition, people around you regard themselves as old people, and they are treated as old people everywhere, so the sense of aging arises from the cries of other people's "old comrades", "old masters" and "old gentlemen".

The generation of aging feeling is the beginning of a person's mental aging and loss of life motivation and enthusiasm. Because the sense of aging invisibly makes people's will decline, their mood is low, and even makes the elderly physically aging, their psychological function decline, or new diseases appear.

(2) loneliness.

The most common reason for the loneliness of the elderly is that they retire at home, leave their work and colleagues who have been getting along for a long time, and do nothing all day, so they feel lonely and desolate. Children live apart, have few friends and lack social activities. Widowed or divorced, old and lonely. Old people are most afraid of loneliness. Because loneliness makes the elderly in a helpless situation, it is easy to produce a sense of abandonment, which in turn makes the elderly express doubts, depression and despair about the value of their own existence. (Case omitted)

(3) emptiness and boredom.

This kind of problem is more common in the elderly who retire soon or lack sufficient psychological preparation for retirement. They suddenly changed from a long-term tense and orderly working and living state to a loose and irregular living state, which was difficult to adapt at the moment. They may bump around like headless flies, and often feel that time passes slowly and the days pass like years. The problems caused by "emptiness" are often depression or anxiety. If this bad mood persists for a long time, it will not only accelerate aging, but also sometimes make the elderly have suicidal thoughts, which poses a great threat to their physical and mental health. (Case omitted)

(4) Mood is changeable.

Old age is the last stage of life journey, and it is also a "lost period" of life, such as losing jobs, power and status, money, relatives and health. Generally speaking, the feelings of the elderly tend to be depressed, which is inseparable from their historical experience and realistic situation. In addition, due to the aging of the brain and body, the elderly often have different degrees of temperament changes, such as talkativeness, emotional fluctuations, subjective stubbornness and so on. A few elderly people become difficult to accept and adapt to new things, miss the past and even have antagonistic feelings towards reality. Changes in the temperament of the elderly will often increase their distance from the younger generation and real life, leading to the defects of social adaptability.

(5) People are forgetful.

Old people's forgetfulness is usually a sign of their natural aging. The forgetfulness of the elderly is mainly manifested as recent memory disorder, also known as recent amnesia. In other words, what the elderly forget is mainly the recent events, and the newly contacted or learned knowledge, especially the names, places, numbers and other things that have no special definition or are difficult to associate, is forgotten very quickly. However, those old things are often vivid and vivid in my memory. However, the influence on these distant memories will only happen if there are organic brain diseases, that is, distant amnesia will occur. This is a rule of forgetfulness of the elderly.

(6) There are many old sayings.

When people reach a certain age, they will become nagging, always nostalgic and even more "determined". Because of their limited energy, the elderly are willing to do a lot of things, so they have to express themselves with the help of language to attract others' attention and achieve psychological balance, and sometimes they don't listen to others in order to maintain their dignity; Old people are old, there are fewer things to do, and children are rarely around. In order to eliminate loneliness, they can only turn to nagging; Old people always like to talk about the past and show off their past glory, but also to get psychological comfort and fill the emptiness of real life; In addition, although the old man said that birth and death are the natural laws of life, he still nagged to prove his tenacious vitality to death; This kind of nagging and verbal confusion of the elderly is precisely the manifestation of their chaotic thinking mode and thinking process. As old people, we should try our best to control ourselves, and of course young people should understand more.

(7) irregular sleep.

Uneven sleep in the elderly is a sign of the natural decline of brain function in the elderly. We often hear old friends say, "I always get up at two o'clock at night to read", "I have to wake up several times a night and can't move", "I always have insomnia at night and I can't sleep during the day" and "I didn't feel sleepy when I was young, but now I'm fine. I still feel sleepy after sleeping for more than ten hours every day" ... These are common sleep disorders for the elderly. Of course, the elderly's restless sleep also has a lot to do with their mental health.

The following are the mental health standards for the elderly:

Maintain the integrity and harmony of personality. Psychological characteristics such as ability, interest, personality and temperament in personality must be harmonious and unified in order to experience happiness and satisfaction in life. For example, a person is very capable, but he is not interested in the work he is engaged in, which is not suitable for his own personality, so he may not be able to experience success and satisfaction. On the contrary, if he is interested in his job, but his ability is poor, he will feel bored.

Have certain learning ability. In modern society, in order to adapt to the new way of life, we must keep learning. For example, if you don't learn computer, you won't feel the fun of surfing the Internet. If you don't learn new health concepts, you will still stay at the level of eating and wearing warm clothes. Learning can exercise the memory and thinking ability of the elderly and help prevent brain dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease.

Maintain good interpersonal relationships. The formation of interpersonal relationship includes three psychological factors: cognition, emotion and behavior. Emotional connection is the main feature of interpersonal relationship. In interpersonal relationships, there are both positive and negative relationships, and the coordination of interpersonal relationships has a great influence on people's mental health.

Know yourself well. It means being able to objectively analyze your own abilities and make appropriate judgments. Whether you can make an objective and correct judgment about your ability has a great influence on your mood. If you overestimate your ability and try to do things beyond your ability, you often can't get the expected results in your imagination, which will blow your spirit with failure; Low estimation of one's own ability, low self-evaluation and lack of self-confidence often lead to depression.

The goal in life is realistic. We should make life goals according to our own economic ability, family conditions and corresponding social environment. The formulation of life goals should not only conform to reality, but also leave room for it, and should not exceed the scope of one's own and one's family's economic ability. Laozi, the founder of Taoism, said: "Happiness is greater than worry, and wealth is greater than contentment."

Keep in touch with the external environment. On the one hand, you can enrich your spiritual life, on the other hand, you can adjust your behavior in time to better adapt to the environment. Keeping in touch with the external environment includes three aspects, namely, contact with nature, society and people. Old people retire at home, have too much free time and often have depression or anxiety. Today's activity centers, cultural activity stations and universities for the elderly provide conditions for the elderly to get in touch with the external environment.

Mental health problems of empty nesters

Today, more than half of the elderly live in empty nests. Loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, inferiority and self-blame are the psychological problems that are easy to appear in empty nesters. What mental health problems do empty nesters have? Let's have a look.

1, senile depression

As the first generation of only children, many post-80s people enjoy their parents' endless love since childhood, and even enjoy their parents' care when they are adults and after work. Many parents are willing to "contribute" their pension savings to buy a house and a car for their children. However, this kind of care for children is exchanged for "living alone". The psychological gap between the elderly is naturally great, especially when they are sick or have an accident. Because they can't get the care of their children, they will feel abandoned, or they will feel lonely and feel sorry for themselves.

"The home is quiet and lifeless. Empty nesters have nothing to say, and there is nothing to kill when they are free. Such old people are prone to depressive symptoms: feeling lonely, mentally lonely, feeling that life is boring, often recalling the past and being pessimistic. Some elderly people even commit suicide. " Zhu Jianzhong reminded that the most common psychological problem of empty nesters is senile depression.

2. The prevalence rate is rising.

With the increase of age, the physiological function of the elderly gradually declines and it is easy to get sick. Hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Are common diseases of the elderly. Once these diseases are formed, they are difficult to cure, often accompanied by irreversible complications, requiring lifelong treatment and nursing, which not only damages the health of the elderly, but also affects their daily life ability.

3. Empty nest syndrome

Empty nest syndrome is not a single anxiety, depression compulsion and hypochondriasis, but a group of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, loneliness and behavioral withdrawal. The core reason of empty nest syndrome is lack of love. Love is an indispensable part of the quality of life. The lack of love affects the physical and mental health of empty nesters and their quality of life is low. Empty nest syndrome is characterized by depression, depression, behavioral withdrawal, doubt of its own existence value, falling into a state of no desire, helplessness and boredom, which may lead to self-mutilation, suicide and even Alzheimer's disease.

Second, pay attention to the dangerous "signals" of senile depression.

The main manifestations of senile depression are: depression, irritability, anxiety, listlessness, lack of interest in anything, always feeling lack of sleep, unresponsive, sensitive and suspicious, and always feeling unwell.

Because the performance of senile depression is often atypical, it is easy to be ignored, thus missing the opportunity for treatment. If you want to find the "clues" of senile depression, you should pay attention to the following "danger signals".

1, temperament mutation, often blaming yourself.

If an old man who is usually cheerful suddenly stays away from the crowd and is too lazy to talk, he often cries alone and even says that he has committed a big crime. I'm sorry. If the "big crime" he said is actually just a trivial matter or an old thing, then the family should pay attention to it and take the elderly to the specialist hospital in time.

I always feel uncomfortable here or there.

Always feel uncomfortable, such as gastrointestinal discomfort: abdominal distension and diarrhea, anorexia and nausea; Cardiovascular system discomfort: palpitation, breathlessness, chest tightness, oppression, discomfort, etc. Motor system discomfort: low back pain, head and neck pain, systemic muscle pain, etc. Autonomic nervous system discomfort: the whole body is hot and cold, sweating, etc. After various inspections, there are often no major problems.

3. fidgety, anxious, nervous and worried

Unexplained irritability, anxiety, nervousness and worry, such as worrying that one's own money is not enough, children can't take care of themselves, can't do housework, and family members will have an accident. These things that others think are completely unnecessary to worry about, patients are restless all day, have no thoughts about tea and rice, and even have self-harm or suicidal tendencies.

4. I feel that my brain power is declining and my energy is declining.

Patients will feel memory loss, intelligence decline, brain slowdown, and can't remember anything. Different from Alzheimer's disease, patients with depression can realize that their memory and intelligence have problems, and with the relief of depressive symptoms, their memory and intelligence can gradually recover.

In addition to feeling mental decline, patients often feel lack of energy, fatigue and weakness. In severe cases, I have to stay in bed all day and need someone to serve me. They not only seriously imagine their situation, but also have absurd ideas that others can't understand, such as thinking that their intestines are rotten, they are terminally ill, or they are poor.

In fact, what empty nesters want most is the care and companionship of their children. I suggest that they might as well take more time to go home and spend more time with their elderly parents. Without parents, there would be no self today.

Mental health problems of elderly people living alone

1. What psychological problems do elderly people living alone prone to?

1. 1, heavy sense of loss.

Thereby interfering with emotions and affecting psychological balance. Some people always think that they are old and useless, and their units and families no longer need themselves, so they are more likely to feel lost, silent and stay at home.

1.2, lonely

After leaving their jobs, the elderly are prone to loneliness and depression with the decrease of social activities and interpersonal communication. Living alone in the "empty nest", the elderly are prone to loneliness and abandonment.

1.3, "Nostalgia"

They often indulge in memories of the past, often reminisce about the good old days, and then sigh "helpless and I wonder how many blossoms were broken", which will easily lead to depression over time.

1.4, become withdrawn.

Lack of communication makes personality morbid, and serious work becomes stubborn, impatient, eccentric, elegant, lofty and unsociable.

1.5, suspicious and sensitive

There are two kinds of paranoia: one is not believing in one's own illness; The other thinks that his illness is more serious than the doctor said. This state often appears after the onset of remission. When others speak in a low voice, they will think that they are talking about themselves or hiding their illness. This situation accounts for about 30%.

1.6, psychological behavior deviation

Lack of communication makes personality morbid: serious work becomes stubborn, impatient and eccentric; Elegant and lofty become unsociable; Easy-going personality develops into willful rudeness and so on.

2. What diseases are easily caused by psychological problems of elderly people living alone?

2. 1, causing chronic diseases

Middle-aged and elderly people who live alone lack communication with people or even their children, and they are prone to conflict with others or their children, which in turn leads to the loss of physiological functions, making the elderly feel helpless and powerless, and are prone to boredom with themselves and their lives. If it cannot be adjusted in time, it will easily lead to depression and enter a vicious circle.

2.2, behavior degradation or excessive role

Often due to acute onset, serious illness, and unpredictable life and death, patients are completely passive, lacking opinions and confidence, demanding more care and sympathy, and relying on others for everything. About 60%.

2.3, taboo diseases avoid medical treatment.

Another important reason why the physical and mental health problems of the elderly are ignored is that the elderly refuse to admit that they have problems and refuse to "see a doctor." 70% of the elderly in China suffer from chronic geriatric diseases, and 15% suffer from serious diseases. Chronic diseases are accompanied by irreversible complications and need lifelong treatment and nursing.

3. How to adjust the psychological problems of the elderly living alone?

3. 1 1, cultivate new hobbies

A rich retirement life can make the elderly live 7.5 years longer. Old people may wish to regain their previous hobbies, or cultivate new hobbies according to their own personality and physical condition. Healthy hobbies can delay mental decline and promote interpersonal communication.

3.2, raising small animals

Old people who live alone can keep pets. Lovely Xiaohua Mall and humane dogs arouse people's vitality, and the company of pets makes people not feel lonely. But we should pay attention to the hygiene of pets and prevent infectious diseases such as "cat catching fever" and "rabies".

3.3. Face life with an open mind.

People often encounter unpleasant things in life, depending on how you treat them. Some things can be put aside as long as you are open-minded. Don't get into trouble. It should be "don't care if you don't like it." Being open-minded and generous is good for your health.

How do elderly people living alone prevent mental illness?

1. Old people who live alone should make more friends.

After retirement, the social role gradually recedes, and friends and relatives are very important to the elderly. Old people should make more friends before they retire, so that the passbook of interpersonal relationships will be full. Communicating with neighbors, participating in community activities, smiling or simply greeting can bring the relationship closer.

2. Old people living alone should learn to turn to emotion.

Old people whose children are away from home should turn their feelings to their wives in time, relive the past together and go out more. If you are a widowed old man, you can do tasks for yourself and let yourself be entrusted.

Old people living alone should stick to a healthy lifestyle.

Including food, clothing, housing and transportation, hobbies and habits. Although people are different, a healthy and civilized life is the same goal. Some bad habits, such as excessive addiction to alcohol and tobacco, playing cards, not paying attention to hygiene and disorderly life, must be overcome.

How do children take care of elderly people living alone?

1, children should do more to support.

"Visit home often" is a simple and effective method. Exchange thoughts and feelings with the elderly, so as not to make them feel lonely and helpless; Once the elderly feel unwell in a certain part of their body, they should be mobilized to a regular hospital for examination as soon as possible. Some old people will find their self-worth by intervening in their children's lives. To some extent, the need for domination is human instinct and innate desire. Therefore, once parents have a similar situation, children should first be more patient and find opportunities to talk to their parents.

2. Children should be filial first.

The foothold of "filial piety" is "obedience". "A good word warms three winters, and a bad word hurts the cold in June", and anyone will be happy when they hear it right. When there are contradictions, we should talk well and solve them quickly. Old people should also relax themselves and remember that "children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren." They might as well let go of those unprincipled little things.

Children should know how to support and take care of the elderly who live alone.

As children, we should be filial to our parents and support and respect the elderly; As an old man, he should not be opinionated, arbitrary and arrogant, but should understand his children and convince others. Discuss with your wife and children when you are in trouble, and don't ask for trouble and sadness. If the father or mother is single, on the one hand, children should abandon narrow concerns such as fear of property outflow and talk seriously with the elderly to help introduce them. On the other hand, you should spend more time with your parents, because companionship also requires children to do their part.

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