Psychological Problems

Psychological Problems
The common psychological problems that most of the older persons experience: Feeling of powerlessness, feeling of inferiority, depression, uselessness, isolation and reduced competence. These problems along with social disabilities like widowhood, societal prejudice and segregation aggravate the frustration of elderly people. Studies report that conditions of poverty, childlessness, disability, in-law conflicts and changing values were some of the major causes for elder abuse.
Health problems
Health problems are supposed to be the major concern of a society as older people are more prone to suffer from ill health than younger age groups. It is often claimed that ageing is accompanied by multiple illness and physical ailments. Besides physical illness, the aged are more likely to be victims of poor mental health, which arises from senility, neurosis and extent of life satisfaction.
Thus, health status of aged should occupy a central place in any study of the elderly population. In most of the primary surveys, the Indian elderly in general and the rural aged in particular are assumed to have some health problems like cough, poor eyesight, anaemia and dental problems. The proportion of the sick and bed ridden among the elderly is found to be increasing with advancing age, the major physical disabilities being blindness and afnes
Besides physical ailments, psychiatric morbidity is also prevalent among large proportion of elderly. Given the prevalence of ill health and disability among the elderly, there is also lack of the provision of medical aid and proper familial care, in addition, while public health services are insufficient to meet the health needs of the elderly.
Since a large majority of older Indians live in rural areas, discussion of ageing in India is essentially a discussion of ageing in rural areas. Almost eight out of ten older people in India live in rural areas. According to 2001 census, 78 per cent of elderly people in India resided in rural areas. Women comprise a slightly higher proportion than men, basically due to higher female expectancy at birth.
Pervasive poverty and inequalities of income, coupled with a very inadequate safety net, has meant that majority of older persons become marginalized or even destitute. The poor among elderly people have been losing out even as economic development is taking place in the country as a whole.
Ageing is predominantly a women’s problem. Not only do women live longer but most of them are widows. They face serious discrimination with respect to their rights and are over burdened with familial responsibilities. This adversely affects their health, nutrition and mental well being. Irrespective of economic, marital or educational status. elderly women face an emotional void in their life. A women explanation for distress ,elderly female is the ’empty nest syndrome’
The empty nest’ period may indeed bring in depression in the course of their redeem them from their miserable plight. diminishing role in the family. Extra provisions of care and support are required
this is the problem of widows in our society today. Approximately 99 per cent of India’s elderly population lives below the poverty line and 50 per cent of them are widows. They are especially vulnerable to poverty, inadequate care and neglect in old age. The tradition of women marrying men older than them by several years, the increasing life expectancy of women, social disapproval of widow remarriage, patrilineal inheritance and problems of finding employment all render widows more vulnerable than most other groups in society. Their situation become worse when they own very little or no assets of their own and do not have an independent source of income. Single persons, particularly women are more vulnerable in old age as few people are willing to take care of non-lineal relatives.