Summary:
In Chapter 17 we learned about:
- There is a steady increase in the older population since 1900, and a decreasing younger population
· Figure 17.1 The young and the old, 1900 to 2030 on page 475 is a good example of a graph to show the increase of older population
- The older population in America is more racially and ethnically diverse as we see insightful changes over the past several decades in the United States
- In the United States people are considered old at ages 65-67 because they can collect:
· Full social security benefits
· Are eligible for Medicare
- Here are some examples medical researches found on how to stay healthy at old age:
· Physical exercise
· Mental exercise
· Lose weight and don’t smoke
· Watch what you eat
· Control your blood pressure and avoid diabetes
· Establish strong social networks
· Medical treatment
- Scientists believe that depression caused by a mixture of:
· Genetic
· Personal history
· Environmental factors
Dementia- is the loss of memory that usually occurs later in life
- The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease- is a progressive disease that is a degenerative disorder that attacks the brain and impairs:
· Memory
· Thinking
· Behavior
* On page 480 there are 10 warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease
- Millions of older Americans are returning to the work force after they retire or Americans are working much longer because they cannot afford to retire
Retirement can:
- Affect marital happiness
- Health
- Finical security
- Grandparents help keep a family close. The reasons being are:
· Represent stability with family relationships
· They continue family rituals, and values
· Help adult children with parenting
Some of the most common grandparenting style is:
· Remote of detached
· Companionate and supportive
· Involved and influential
· Advisory and authoritative
· Cultural transmitters
- There are 5 groups that sibling relationships fall into later in life according to medical sociologist Deborah Gold:
· Intimate siblings
· Congenial siblings
· Loyal Siblings
*These last 2 groups are negative
· Apathetic siblings
· Hostile siblings
- The best-known dying process is by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. There are 5 stages to of dying:
· Denial
· Anger
· Bargaining
· Depression
· Acceptance
- Matthews and Rosner found 5 primary types of caregiving for aging parents with adult children:
· Routine help
· Backups
· Circumscribed
· Sporadic
· Disassociated
Interests/ Unusual Items Learned:
Clearly in chapter 17 we learned about aging. We learned about retirement, caregiving, grandparent, and death. However, when the book stated that grandparents are also getting divorced I was shocked!
Discussion:
One of the things that I realized in this class is that I take interest in learning how other people live in different countries. “The Retired Husband Syndrome in Japan” is an article on page 487. I found it interesting that the Terakawas husband spent most of his life away from her and their kids. Her husband basically devoted most of his life to his career to the point that he was taking vacations with his colleagues and clients rather than his family? When Terakawa husband retired he was practically friendless and he criticized Terakawa about the majority of the things she did around the house. Terakawa ended up getting diagnosed (RHS), which is the abbreviation for retired husband syndrome. Psychiatrist estimate that 60% of wives in Japan that have retired husbands suffer from RHS to some extent. There is speculation that RHS has been one of the reasons that caused divorce rates to double among older couples in Japan since 1985.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
Natalie Sebula
A good question. Why is RHS so Japan-centric? Does it exist in the USA?
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think RHS is Japan-centric because that is part of Japans culture. Like I stated in the article the men are so wrapped up in there work. When its time for them to retire they have nothing to do. They get depressed and they pick on there wife.
ReplyDeleteTo some extent RHS exist in the United States. I do not think RHS is as common as it is in Japan. I also feel that RHS in the United states is not as aggressive as it is in Japan. I also think RHS in the United States is a different form.
I agree with Natalie, I think it exists in the USA but is less present than in the Japanese culture.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a part of the culture for men to spend most of their time focusing on work. Unfortunately, because of this, they are oblivious to the issues within their home and once they retire are left to observe and consequently pick on their wives in a negative manner. I think this is one of those aspects within a culture that someone outside of the culture cannot fully understand. If it is indeed a part of the culture and seems to be the normal thing than it won't seem as something that should be addressed within the culture.
Just to add to that,
ReplyDeleteSo for someone looking in on the culture as we may, it will quickly raise issues within our minds because it's not something that is the norm in our culture or occurring as often in our culture. RHS seems like a type of depression that older women within marriages experience within the Japanese culture.
I think that it is so much more prevalent in Japan than in the US because there are such distinctive gender roles present in their culture--most women don't work, and spend their entire lives living at home.They aren't used to being out of the house much and are used to being by themselves or with their children. I think that when the husband starts spending all of his time at home, it completely changes what she is used to and a mental breakdown will occur.
ReplyDelete