014 Ageism

Ageism

Originating in the 1960’s, ageism is a term that refers to the negative stereotypes society places on older adults that justify their problems as ramifications of their old age, instead of as actual medical, social, or psychological problems. An example of this is the tendency for older adults to be categorized as senile, when instead the adult actually has some type of treatable comorbid condition, like Alzheimer’s disease, depression mult-infarct dementia, and alcoholism. Ageism is the reflection of AMERICA’S DISLIKE OF ADVANCING IN YEARS, BECOMING WEAK, AND EVENTUALLY DYING. THESE STEREOTYPES ARE INTERNALIZED BY ELDERLY PEOPLE VERY OFTEN AND MANY TIMES THE ADULT WILL NOT ASK FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SUSBTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT. Ageism has negative effects in that it causes health care providers to simply attribute old age to symptoms instead of looking deeper for the real problem. Older adults are frequently misdiagnosed because of this. Another reason older adults are misdiagnosed is because their health care providers will mistakenly think that even if the older adult is treated for substance abuse their quality of life will still be low. It is commonly thought that it would be a waste of time to treat older adults because they will die soon anyway. This low level of expectations is called “therapeutic nihilism”. Another reason older adults are not treated is because of the lack of awareness of the people around them. Society has placed a stigma on substance abuse in the older generation because of religion, gender, or culture. Thus, many older adults deny a problem with substance abuse to avoid this stigma.

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