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Successful Aging - Archived Article
May is Older Americans Month
How much do you think you know about older people? Since May is Older Americans Month, it's a good time to debunk some common myths about aging.
MYTH: Older people are more rigid and resistant to change.
REALITY: Aging does not make a person rigid, inflexible and resistant to change. The ability to adapt and be flexible has more to do with lifelong personality than with age. Later life actually is a time of many changes-death of spouse, family, and friends; retirement; loss of health and mobility; and reduced income-requiring profound adjustment. Most older people adapt well to these changes, and many develop new interests and take on new directions in life.
MYTH: Personality changes with age.
REALITY: Personality patterns tend to persist throughout life. You are what you are for as long as you live, unless you make a conscious effort to change, or a medical condition-such as Alzheimer's disease or a stroke-affects your personality.
MYTH: Aging brings with it a decline in intellectual abilities and learning.
REALITY: Some loss of brain cells does occur with aging, but it has negligible effect on the brain ability to function. Barring major illness, you can expect your mind to be alert and active well past age 80.
MYTH: Memory loss is inevitable in later life.
REALITY: Many people worry that growing old means losing the ability to remember, think or reason. Memory loss is not normal in later life; however, some change in the ability to recall recent information is common. This may be because "Old memories" stored in the brain interfere with the recall of new information. Think of your brain as a library in which you are looking for a particular book. If it is a young library with only a few books, the one you seek will be easy to find. If it is an older library of thousands of books, finding a particular book will take longer. But the book is still there if you take that time to look for it.
MYTH: Older people have no interest in, and are incapable of, sexual activity.
REALITY: Sexual needs, desires, and functioning do not change abruptly with age. If you are in reasonably good health, you can have an active and satisfying sexual life in the later years.
MYTH: Urinary incontinence is to be expected in later life.
REALITY: Urinary incontinence is neither normal nor inevitable in later life. While it is more common among adults 65 years of age and older, eighty percent of urinary incontinence cases can be cured or significantly in proved. Yet, half the people affected never seek medical help.
MYTH: Older people often are abandoned by their children.
REALITY: For almost all older persons, families are important. When family is not a part of an older person's life, there usually have been long-standing relationship problems and estrangement.
The family is still the number one provider of support and caregiving to older persons, providing at least 80% of the needed support. Nowadays, families give more care for longer periods than families did in "the good old days".
Want to learn more about the myths and realities of aging? The above information was taken from a booklet called What do you Know About Aging? Facts and Fallacies, a publication of the Pacific Northwest Extension. To receive a copy, call Broome County Office for Aging at 607.778.2411.
Next Week: Here's to a decade of Staying Well.