Aging | Psych Central

Strategies for Improving Memory

Friday, November 13th, 2009

How often has this happened to you: You enter a room and forget why you wanted to go into that room, or you cannot find your keys or your glasses? You may become frightened that ...

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Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder, or IEED, is a condition in which a person experiences uncontrollable episodes of emotional expression. That is, they have episodes of crying, laughter, or anger that are not in line ...

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Searching for Soul: A Survivor’s Guide

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Bobbe Tyler, author, nonfiction writer and retired communications coordinator for Lucasfilm Ltd, has written a book of the type, and in the style, that has kept her alive all these years. Her book, Searching ...

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Finding Love after 60

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

During the last few months of her life, my grandmother Ruth, then 93, was too frail for family to adequately care for at home. With much reluctance, she and we all agreed that a nursing ...

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Specialized Geriatric Hospital Units Aid Elderly

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Older people cared for in specialized geriatric hospital units tend to decline at a slower pace than those given conventional hospital care, recent research suggests. Aging brings a certain amount of natural deterioration in cognitive performance, ...

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60 On Up: The Truth About Aging in America

Monday, May 25th, 2009

When I was in graduate school in the mid-1970s, I felt strangely out of sync with my fellow students. Then I happened on Worlds of Pain, a groundbreaking book by Lillian Rubin about working-class life ...

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Coffee May Prevent Dementia

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Further evidence has come to light that drinking coffee may have a protective effect against dementia. Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are common problems in the elderly population. Although research is improving our knowledge of the ...

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Grief, Grandma’s Way

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

By the time she got into her 90s, my grandmother was a wise woman indeed. She was wise about life. She was also wise about death. As the youngest of eight, she had outlived all ...

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Challenges and Benefits for Grandparent Caregivers

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

When my grandfather's mother died in 1900 in rural Maine, it was his aunt who stepped in to raise him and his baby sister. When my friend Jill lost her mother in the 1950s, her ...

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Fairness and Reciprocity in Friendships

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

My friend Richard shook his head as he told me the story of his latest visit with his mother, Harriet, now in her late 80's. "I'd really like to see Mildred," she said. "So why don't you ...

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Seniors and Depression

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Table of Contents: An Introduction to the Depression Series Types of Depression Symptoms of Depression and Mania Causes of Depression Depression in Women, Seniors and Children Diagnostic Evaluation and Treatment How to Help Yourself if You ...

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Dating Later in Life

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

"At first, I felt like I was being unfaithful to my late husband," says Paula, a 65-year-old widow who recently began dating again. Sam, a 70-year-old retiree, wants to date, "But my grown kids don't ...

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Coping With Loneliness: Tips for Seniors

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

On the old television show "The Golden Girls," four, over-60 widows live together, providing each other companionship, friendship and emotional support. Many seniors, however, lack this kind of social network. In fact, loneliness is a ...

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Caring for an Elder Parent

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

A combination of trends is sparking heightened interest in generational issues. For one thing, people are simply living longer due to advances in medicine and preventive health. It's more common today, as opposed to 50 ...

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The Male Midlife Crisis

Friday, June 22nd, 2007

You have an unexplained desire to buy a sports car. You're happily married, but you have started fantasizing about younger women. You go on a crash diet, and dream about starting over, being free. Does ...

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