Assignment On Current Theories Of Aging And The Psychological Considerations

Running head: CURRENT THEORIES OF AGING AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR AGING CLIENTS
Current Theories Of Aging And The Psychological Considerations For Aging Clients
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CURRENT THEORIES OF AGING AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR AGING CLIENTS
1
Aging is the slow process, which makes a person old. Aging causes several changes in
the body. It leads to aging of skin; other organs start to lose its immunity power, people start
becoming weak and there are several changes in the psychology of the person. The paper is
based on the current theories that leads to aging and the psychological changes that aged
people in Australia undergoes due to the changes in their skin after aging (Kahana & Kahana,
2018). A large number of population of Australia is above the age of 60, thus, a study of the
Australian senior citizen will help in the assassination of the effects of aging skin and its
psychological issues. Aging has an adverse effect on the person as well as on their families.
The skin is the largest organ of our body and people start to face issues with the change in
their skin.
There are three major theories of aging. They are activity aging, disengagement
theory and continuity theory. The activity theory of aging is also known as implicit theory of
aging, lay theory of aging and normal theory of aging. Robert J. Havighurst has first
introduced the activity theory. It was developed in the year 1961 (Bengtson & DeLiema,
2016). He proposed that when older adults have an active social life and social interaction,
successful aging takes place. In the year 1961, Cumming and Henry in the book “Growing
Old” first coined the theory of disengagement (Bengtson & DeLiema, 2016). In the book it
has been said that it is natural that old people will have a psychological change and will be
slowly withdrawing from the society. As a result, interaction with the society will be
decreased. The maintaining of the usual activities, behaviours and relationships are stated in
the continuity theory. This theory states that living a life that people live in their middle ages
and working accordingly, with which they connect. This theory can be considered as micro-
level theory. It was being coined because most of the older people tends to get detached from
the society and suffers from psychological issues.

CURRENT THEORIES OF AGING AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR AGING CLIENTS
2
In the book of George L. Maddox namely “Middle Age and Aging: A Reader in Social
Psychology” in the year 1968 was first introduced the theory of continuity, which was
formerly proposed by Robert Atchley in the article "Retirement and Leisure Participation:
Continuity or Crisis?" (Bengtson & DeLiema, 2016).
As researched from by the gerontological researchers, most of the aging people suffer
psychological issues due the esthetical abeyance. In the process of aging, the skin is the first
organ where aging is visible. The skin acts as an envelope of self and that is where our
emotions are being displayed. Our skin reflects the blanching, sweating, blushing and all the
feeling. Various diseases make the skin look aged and aging of skin does not look good or
makes one feel good. When a person is not happy with their skin, the skin becomes
burdensome. Skin problems such as blemishes, discoloration, lose does not make one look
good (Coleman & O’Hanlon, 2018). They start to feel uncomfortable and creates distress on
the person. People due to skin aging starts to feel inferior. Often it is found that with aging
people starts to suffer from depression and anxiety.
With aging skin becomes rough, dry and itchy. Maximum people over the age of 70
suffers from at least two of the skin diseases. From surveys, it can be said that most of the
aging is caused due to excessive stress and aging people are more bothered about their skin
aging rather than their health (Davison, 2016). In fact, the prime source of skin disease is
stress and discomfort that have an impact on the life. With skin diseases, people start to face
embracement and loss of self-confidence. This skin issues can hamper a person’s personal as
well as work life. Depression, dementia, anxiety and various other psychological
dysfunctions are the reason of aging.
Aging varies from person to person, some people age successfully than others. The
psychological handling of the aging also depends on the personality and attitude of the