Loneliness among Elderly

Running Head: LONELINESS AMONG ELDERLY
Loneliness among Elderly
Student’s NRIC/FIN
Name of University
Author Note

1LONELINESS AMONG ELDERLY
Introduction
Till the beginning of 20th, the major studies in the field of
developmental psychology focused on the experiences that an individual
goes through in their childhood and their adolescence. Psychological
developmental among the aged people were not studied till the later part
of the 20th century because most of the leading psychologist of that era
thought that the development that occurred in a human’s life occurred
during childhood and adolescence. Researchers have realized the
importance of studying the human psychology during old age and believe
that it would contribute to the study of developmental psychology.
Developmental psychology is the study that focuses on the change that
occurs in the life of human beings, they study the reason behind this
change and the way on which it occurs. This study would focus on the
two theories of developmental psychology by Daniel Levinson and Erik
Erikson and relate it to the loneliness that the elderly people go through
and it will also recommend certain ways that will help the elderly deal with
loneliness. It will also talk about the importance of mental health in the
elderly and the long term effect it has on life of the individual (Eysenck,
2019).

2LONELINESS AMONG ELDERLY
Discussion
The essay “On Old Age”, written by Cicero, who is an ancient
Roman philosopher, was one of the first writings that dealt with the
process of aging (Sulmasy, 2014). It talked about the opportunities and
challenges that are present in the aging process. After that theorist like
Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud, Eric Erickson, Vygotzky have all made major
contributions in the field of developmental psychology.
ERICKSON’S MODEL OF ADULT PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Erik Erikson is a German-American developmental psychologist
and psychoanalyst who propagated a theory of psychological
development in human beings. He is known for inventing the phrase
‘identity crises. The model that was developed by Erikson depicting the
psychological developmental in adults showed that if the elderly person is
successfully involved in some activity, or work and if they are involved in
the development of the community, they age on a healthy manner, which
means that not sitting idle is a great way to stay healthy in elderly people
(Malone et al., 2016). The challenges that come about in the later stage of
life, some major changes that occur when a person gets old, can be
reduced if the person who is going through these changes apply the things
that he learned during his early years of development. The problem with
old age is that they not only go through psychological changes but also
the elder people experience physical changes. There are some adults who
go through some kind of disability in their old age. Erikson mentioned that