an article of Lucia Pardopsychologist specializing in the field of aging and author of the blog
Surely you have ever heard phrases like “he’s older, he’s dodgy”, “older people are curmudgeons”, “older people are like children”… and these are just a few examples of how prejudices towards older people They are present in our society.
Although people are getting older and the older population is increasing, today’s society is still loaded with prejudices and stereotypes. And those who contribute the most to this being the case are the media.
An advertisement on television, a report in a magazine… there are many means through which they make us see that youth is the best stage of life and you must stay in it as it is: aesthetic operations, creams, makeup… and maintain the habits of this vital stage.
The life cycle we all go through is made up of four stages: childhood, youth, adulthood and old age. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages, its positive aspects and those that are not so much. However, our culture associates youth only with positive aspects, and old age with negative aspects.
These are just some of the great myths about old age:
- Older people are all the same
When we talk about older people, we refer to them as if they were all the same. However, it is a way of referring to a group that is in an age range. Isn’t it true that even if we talk about youth we cannot say that all young people are the same? Well, the same thing happens in old age, we can even say that the differences are greater.
Throughout our lives each one of us grows and develops in a different way and in different directions, which makes when they reach old age people are even more different than they were when they were 40 or 50 years younger.
- Older people have nothing to contribute
Although we should not confuse it with another myth that I will tell you about below, we should not consider that older people have nothing to contribute. They all have a great life baggage, each with their particular experiences and learning. This makes them people with great knowledge of life or certain aspects of it.
- Old age is synonymous with wisdom
Old age does not imply wisdom, not necessarily an older person is wise. As I told you in the previous myth, an older person generally has a great baggage of experiences and learning.
Wisdom, as I told you in this , is a set of knowledge about the practical aspects of life, acquired through experience. Therefore, although wisdom is associated with experience, it is not necessarily associated with age.
- Old age is synonymous with disease
We associate old age with disease because it is in this stage of life where some chronic diseases such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, dementia occur more frequently… However, It is not true that all older people are sick or dependent. Moreover, we are very lucky to boast in our society a large number of centenarians, many of whom do not have any pathology.
- Older people have a bad temper
That older people have a bad temper is a widespread myth. It is not the first time I have heard that older people are very strict, they get angry quickly, they have a bad temper, they do not have patience… However, It’s just generalizations.
When we are stubborn when young, we will be stubborn when we are older, even more pronounced. And the same thing happens with all those personality characteristics (introversion, extraversion, responsibility, kindness…).
Therefore, when you meet a stubborn older person, think that they have been like this all their lives!
- Older people are not able to learn
What am I going to learn now, at my age! Surely it is not the first time you have heard this phrase, and it is that even some older people use it.
The ability to learn is maintained throughout life. Our brain has the ability to create new connections and adapt to changes through what is called plasticity. Our brain is “plastic”, it adapts its neural connections and creates new connections depending on the experiences that we are living and the learning that is taking place.
- sexuality is for young people
Statistics state that a high percentage of older people actively engage in sex. During old age, sexual desire is maintained and the physiological capacity to experience pleasure is maintained. So why not practice it at any age?
About the author: Lucia Pardo
Lucia Pardo She is a psychologist, graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela, and specialized in the field of aging with a Master’s Degree in Psychogerontology. She currently continues to train through different courses and is completing the Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology at UNED.
She is the author of the blog a platform through which its author spreads her enthusiasm for topics related to psychology through posts focused on psychology in general, psychology within the field of aging and professional practice.