Aging Happily is Possible!

Stating that the main reason behind loneliness in advancing age is that an individual made a wrong investment regarding their psychological resilience, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said the biggest need of people in advancing age is social support. Noting that wisdom and sedateness increase although some physiological qualities weaken due to elderliness, Tarhan said “Logical and correct way of thinking and healthy decision-making are increasing, and also having more accurate value judgments is increasing. If knowledge and experience are combined with mature personality, a happy old person emerges. That is, such people are more consistent, tolerant and more patient.”.

"If knowledge and experience are combined with mature personality, a happy old person emerges"

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan made an assessment about the importance of psychological resilience and psychological resilience in the elderly.

If there is healthy aging, the person is happy in their advanced age

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan noted that older people are happier if there is healthy aging and said, "Elderly people are no longer sitting in the competition seat, not on the race track, but in the jury seat. However, they cannot be happy if they still see themselves in the race seat; therefore, if there is actually healthy aging, the person can provide it. If there is no healthy aging, that person tries to be active in everything, that person tries to emulate young people. Every age has its beauties, its difficulties and its gains. There are skills that a person loses over time. Whichever of these are focused on, the mood is also affected. That's how psychological resilience in old age is formed. For this reason, it is necessary to know psychological resilience. Psychological resilience normally increases overall in the elderly.".

Psychological resilience is the ability to recover easily when there is a challenge

Stating that psychological resilience is the ability of a person to quickly recover when one experience difficulties, Tarhan said, "This situation normally increases in the elderly with mature personality. Since old age is already an accumulation of experience in life, the elderly usually become wiser. In events where young people are afraid and panic, the elderly provide balance. This is actually similar in nature. Old wolves are wise. They stand at the very back and watch over the dangers that come to the herd from afar, informing the others. Young wolves go from the front in the pack, old wolves go from behind. The herd benefits from their experience. This also applies to humans. If young people benefit from the foresight and rational intuition of the elderly in the face of life events, they can benefit from their experiences. Psychological resilience is the ability to recover easily when there is difficulty.".

Theoretical knowledge, practical experience and mastery knowledge are not the same...

Stating that this situation is also important for the mental health of elderly people, Tarhan said, "Elderliness, where ideas are taken, consulted, asked and which is around young people, is a pleasant old age. Of course, this is more possible in large families. Young couples benefit from their experience when raising children. They teach them motherhood - fatherhood skills without breaking down. Today, this transfer of knowledge and experience does not happen due to the nuclear family. Young people are also trying to learn from social media, the Internet and books, but theoretical knowledge, practical experience knowledge and mastery knowledge are not the same."

In our society, the nuclear family confederation has been formed

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that we have not completely lost the extended family structure as a society, and that a foreign sociologist who visited our country made an examination on our family structure and said, "The nuclear family and the extended family were examined and it was examined how the transformation of the extended family was. The sociologist said ' The nuclear family appears, but you are not in the nuclear family, nor is the extended family. You have become a nuclear family confederation.’ Some families live in the same apartment, but their houses are separate. Most of them are together, they see each other often, the children play together, they grow up together. Some problems come with it, however, there is also a great support. For example, when someone is sick, the others give support. We have benefited tremendously from the extended family in the earthquake area. All of a sudden all the families came together, they relieved the loneliness, they relieved the loneliness of the elderly, they started to stay in the same house.".

One of the 3 great dangers that await the world is loneliness!

Noting that the problem of loneliness is seen as one of the most important problems all over the world, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "In Davos, where the World Economic Forum was held in 2019, the three great dangers waiting for the world were stated as loneliness, climate change and economic imbalance, that is, income inequality.". Stating that many side effects of loneliness have been revealed in studies, Tarhan said, "Loneliness damages the physical health of the person as much as smoking 15 cigarettes in a day. Living alone deteriorate the immune system, it deteriorates health.".

Those become lonely in their old age, who were self-centered in their youth...

Stating that the biggest reason for loneliness in advanced age is to make wrong investment in people's psychological resilience, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "The biggest need of elderly people is social support. Whoever is self-centered at a young age is left alone in their advanced age. If the children they raise are self-centered, they say, "My comfort comes first. First me, then you." When this is the case, the person is left alone in the following years. Old age also becomes an unhappy period. While many things brought by modernism made our lives easier, unfortunately it made us lose some of our human qualities...".

What is the secret of happy old people?

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the criteria related to advanced age in the world also change with the prolongation of life expectancy, and that after 65 is considered as old age and after 75 as advanced old age, and that some abilities are physiologically weakened with old age. Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "Vision is weakening and memory is weakening. There are some diminished abilities, for example, it becomes difficult to learn new things. On the other hand, there are also increasing abilities in older age. For example, wisdom and sedateness are increasing. Logical and correct way of thinking, and healthy decision-making are increasing, and having more accurate value judgments are increasing. If knowledge and experience are combined with mature personality, a happy old person emerges. Thus, people like that are more consistent, tolerant and more patient.".

The wrong life ages the most!

Stating that learning to become wise should be learned from a young age, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "In mental abilities, the person can easily compensate for those decreased mental abilities by becoming wise. Here, a person needs to create a life and lifestyle to gain these skills at a young age. What ages the human body the most is the wrong life. It is said that Luqman the Wise said that the disease is '1 in 3 from the cold, 1 in 3 from the throat and 1 in 3 from the grief.’ If we plan our living style correctly from a young age, the person can have a quality old age in the future.".

The mind must be kept open at all times

Noting that the brain has a feature that works with the ‘use or lose’ rule, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan said, "What improves the brain the most is that it is open to new experiences and learns new information. It is also thinking about what one thinks. These are brain exercises that develop the brain. If the brain becomes using the memorized route, if it automatically goes back and forth in the same way, if it always does the same tasks, the areas where certain pathways of the brain work remain alive and others are destroyed. However, if a person uses all parts of the brain, if a person comments, if a person analyzes events, if social contact increases, if communication with the environment is good, if a person reads, even if a person reaches the age of 100, the mind is active.".

Healthy aging is important

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that there are prejudices from time to time about the fact that old age is seen as a disease that does not have a cure in society and said, "Old age is not a mistake, so we do not call it as the psychology of old age, we call it the psychology of aging. The use of the term anti-aging has become objectionable because it sees old age as an enemy. Now the term healthy aging is used. Instead of seeing aging as a threat, it is important to do aging in a healthy way. For example, instead of seeing diseases as a threat, it is necessary to manage diseases, and instead of confronting them, it is necessary to accept and manage diseases. When one does that, the person is happy.".

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)