Personality in later life: personality disorder and the effects of illness on personality

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Oppenheimer
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Good Care ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Personality Changes ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
The Life Course

This chapter covers disorders of personality in later life, including personality changes caused by dementia. There is little agreement on how best to measure personality in old age. Nevertheless, it is clear that specific changes in personality accompany dementia, particularly fronto-temporal dementia. Personality disorder (PD) in older people has been little studied and is beset by problems of definition. The current (DSM-IV) categories of PD need modification to take account of the biological and cultural contexts of old age before valid studies of the epidemiology and the life course of PDs can be made. An older person’s personality style will profoundly influence their adjustment to major life-stresses, and good care depends on clinicians’ understanding of this. Long-standing personality traits are probably important in the development of the Diogenes syndrome (extreme self-neglect) in later life.

The Social Context and Resources of the Unmarried in Old Age

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat M. Keith
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Role Transitions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course

A model of singleness in later life was developed to show how the social context may influence the personal and social resources of older, unmarried persons. The unmarried (especially the divorced) will be an increasing proportion of the aged population in the future, and they will require more services than will the married. Role transitions of the unmarried over the life course, finances, health, and social relationships of older singles are discussed with implications for practice and future research.

Precarity and Ageing

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Welfare State

This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores precarity and ageing from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, critical perspectives, and contexts. Although cultural representations and policy discourses depict older people as a group healthier and more prosperous than ever, many older people experience ageing amid insecurities that emerge in later life or are carried forward as a consequence of earlier disadvantage. The collection of chapters develops a distinctive approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances that create precarity for different groups of older people. The aim of the book is to explore what insights the concept of precarity might bring to an understanding of ageing across the life course, especially in the context of the radical socio-political changes affecting the lives of older people. In doing so, it draws attention both to altered forms of ageing, but also to changing social and cultural contexts, and realities that challenge the assumption that older people will be protected by existing social programmes or whatever resources that can be marshalled privately.

scholarly journals Personality disorder in older people: how common is it and what can be done?

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Mordekar ◽  
Sean A. Spence
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Older People ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Axis Ii ◽  
Qualitative Review ◽  
Personality Changes

There has been little systematic study of personality disorders in older people (65 years of age and above). However, with an ageing population worldwide we should expect to find increased numbers of people with Axis II disorders surviving into old age. We undertook a qualitative review of the recent literature concerning personality changes and disorders in older people, their prevalence and possible amelioration.

Time as a structuring condition for new intimate relationships in later life6

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Peter Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Life Phase ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Theoretical Insight

It is often claimed that ‘love is ageless’. But is this really true? This chapter raises the question: is there something that sets intimate relationships in later life apart from relationships in earlier parts of the life course? While earlier chapters have considered how intimate relationships in later life are shaped by historical and cultural conditions, this chapter instead focuses on how they are shaped by the particular existential structure of later life. It is argued that old age is a life phase characterized by a paradox of time: that of having lots of available free time, but little time left in life – and that this existential structure shapes intimacy in later life. It is further argued that the scope of this theoretical insight is much wider than the topic of intimate relationships.

scholarly journals COPING STRATEGIES AS MODERATORS OF NEGATIVE HEALTH IMPACTS FROM RELOCATION AT VERY OLD AGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S784-S784
Author(s):  
Bjorn Slaug ◽  
Oliver K Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Functional Independence ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Very Old ◽  
Very Old Age ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Relocation at very old age is a major life event that may have profound psychological impact. The loss of a home environment that has shaped important aspects of the life course can have negative health impacts, such as lower life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, loss of perceived autonomy and functional independence. However, from an ecological theory perspective, implying that patterns of health and well-being are impacted by a dynamic interplay of personal and environmental factors unfolding throughout the life course, the individual’s adaptive repertoire and resources influence how the individual manages and copes with such major life events as relocation to a new housing environment. To study if coping strategies moderated negative health impacts from relocation at very old age, we utilized longitudinal data of older community-living people from Sweden and Germany who had relocated at some point over a nine-year period (N=79, aged 80+ at baseline). A mixed model approach, adjusting for age at time of relocation, was used to analyze moderating effects of different coping strategies, defined according to Staudinger, Freund & Smith (1995). We found pro-active coping strategies such as reminding oneself of previous ability to solve problems, to significantly moderate negative effects on perceived functional independence and resilient strategies such as letting things just have their course, to significantly moderate negative effects on life satisfaction. We found no significant moderation of depressive symptoms. These results suggest that individual disposition to use different coping strategies can moderate the impact on health that relocation at very old age has.

scholarly journals Transcending the Corporeal in Later Old Age?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 591-592
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Remote Island ◽  
Ageing Body ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract This symposium addresses the older body and later life. It focusses on the cultural and social implications of the corporeality of the ageing body. Specifically it seeks to explore the degree to which it is possible to transcend the constraints brought about by the body in later old age. Drawing the distinction between the third and fourth ages for understanding contemporary ageing the papers address three important dimensions of later old age. The first presentation by Gilleard directly addresses the corporeality of late old age noting its seeming undesirability and limitation. Gilleard posits that not only does the ageing body impact on the lived experiences of those in later old age but also acts as a cultural reference point for the representation of this period of the life course. Eliopoulos presents preliminary results from her qualitative study on social exclusion of individuals aged over 80 living in remote island environments of the Pacific Northwest. The research considers how such environments might, even in the absence of high levels of health and social care resources, mitigate some of the constraints associated with the ageing body. The chair, Paul Higgs will discuss the issue of ageism and how it is abstractly inscribed on the ageing body; often with little reference to the lived experiences of older people themselves. He will call for a more reflexive approach to ageism. Overall, the symposium seeks to draw gerontological attention to the complexities and possibilities surrounding the ageing body at later ages.

scholarly journals Senile squalor: Plyushkin's not Diogenes' syndrome

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 319-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Cybulska
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Frontal Lobe Dysfunction ◽  
Diogenes Syndrome ◽  
End Stage ◽  
Senile Squalor

Some names appear to stick to syndromes or diseases like a proverbial glue, regardless of their total inappropriateness. Gross self-neglect in old age characterised by domestic squalor, social withdrawal, apathy, tendency to hoard rubbish (syllogomania) and a lack of shame was originally reported by Macmillan & Shaw in 1966 and subsequently ‘christened’ by Clark et al as Diogenes∗ syndrome in 1975. Post (1982) preferred the term ‘senile recluse’ and argued that this is not a syndrome but merely an end stage of personality disorder. It was usually extremely difficult to help these patients, as one's care and goodwill often met with hostility and blunt refusal to cooperate (Cybulska & Rucinski, 1986). More recent studies, however, have shown a strong association of this condition with frontal lobe dysfunction (Orrell & Sahakian, 1991), thus giving a psychiatrist of old age a somewhat firmer basis for action.

scholarly journals Traumatic Events and Cognitive Function: Does Time When Traumatic Events Happen Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 428-428
Author(s):  
Gabriella Dong
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract People at different life stage may respond differently to traumatic events and result in different cognitive health. This study aims to examine the relationship between life stage at which one experiences traumatic events and cognitive function. The data were drawn from the 2017-2019 PINE study (N = 3,125). The time of life events happened was evaluated by childhood (<20), adulthood (20-59), and old age (60 and above). Cognition was measured through global cognition, episodic memory, working memory, processing speed, and MMSE. Linear regression was used. Individuals with the latest exposure to traumatic events at adulthood or old age have higher cognitive function than those without traumatic events over the life course. Exposure to traumatic events in middle or later life stimulates cognition, while trauma exposure in earlier life stage does not. Future research to understand the impact of traumatic events on health could consider the time when traumatic events happen

scholarly journals Tracing the Religious Life Course: Intergenerational Sources of Later Life Religiosity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 657-657
Author(s):  
Merril Silverstein ◽  
Woosang Hwang ◽  
Joseph Blankholm
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Parental Influence ◽  
Baby Boom ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Religious Orientations ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract The development of religiosity in later life has its origins in earlier phases of the life course, yet few studies have investigated the contribution of early forms of religious exposure to religious beliefs and behaviors in old age. This investigation uses multigenerational data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations taken from 385 baby-boom children age 16-26 and their parents, linked to religious orientations of these children in midlife and old age. Relying on the “chains of risk” perspective, we found that parental religious intensity in 1971 strengthened their children’s behavioral and cognitive religiosity in later life through their indirect effects on children’s early and midlife religiosity. Our results demonstrate both intergenerational and life course forms of stability in religious belief and practice. Evidence suggests that parental influence creates religious momentum in their children that carries from adolescence/young adulthood through the unfolding of human lives into old age. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Religion, Spirituality and Aging Interest Group.

Old age and the fourth age paradigm

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Higgs ◽  
Chris Gilleard
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Healthy Ageing ◽  
Third Age ◽  
Active And Healthy Ageing ◽  
The Life Course

This chapter outlines the fourth age paradigm. It argues that later life is increasingly losing its coherence as a unitary stage in the life course. Diversity in the discourses and practices surrounding later life abound. The discourses of active and healthy ageing in particular promote an optimistic ‘third age’ culture. This framing of later life as a time for autonomy, self-expression and pleasure creates the conditions for the shadowy background of a fourth age imaginary. It is within this imaginary sphere that all the fears and failures of ageing and agedness are deposited.

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