Subversive behavior may be the key to aging well. A British study published in December 2022, of people born in 1921 found that “subversive tactics,” combined with humor, contribute to a sense of independence and a positive attitude toward life. The study of participants aged 95 years does not suggest that older people should undermine […]
Understanding Dementia and Medical-Legal Implications By Sanjay Adhia, M.D. Dementia encompasses degenerative disorders to the brain. It can be subtle and fluctuate in severity even from day to day. It can accompany genetic factors, or be associated with an injury or repeated injuries to the brain and head. It is serious and marked by symptoms […]
Updated June 2025 In American society, which seems hellbent on shunning the reality that aging is a natural part of living, the idea of seniors having sex suffers from double taboos. And yet, they persist. Perhaps the current deluge of television ads for various drugs that purport to make it easy and fun for older […]
“Right now, you’ve got neurons in your brain that have ‘Vacancy’ signs on them,” the Institute on Aging’s Patrick Arbore recently told a capacity crowd gathered to hear his pronouncements about brain health. The group of mostly older attendees was lured to the talk, fittingly held in San Francisco, by its title: “The Summer of […]
Everyone feels lonely sometimes. But when the feeling persists as a chronic or acute state of being, it can easily morph into clinical depression and suicidal ideation—especially among older people. From poets to professors, many have tried to describe and define loneliness. Harry Stack Sullivan, a 20th century psychiatrist whose studies focused on interpersonal relationships, […]
Caring for someone who has dementia is a uniquely stressful experience. The person may be forgetful, engage in bizarre behavior, have trouble speaking, become incontinent, fall, and have trouble eating, dressing, or bathing. He or she may even forget who you are — which can be particularly distressing for family members. Caregivers and family members […]
It’s finally happening. After resisting suggestions about moving to a senior care community for years, your elderly father (or mother) has finally recognized that living alone in the family home is simply too much, and too expensive, for him to handle. Who knows why he changed his mind. Maybe it was the storm that knocked […]
Updated August 2025 A frail, elderly woman in her mid-80s sits on the edge of her bed, her drooping body weighed down by eight-plus decades of life, the recurring health issues that have engulfed her in recent years, and the omnipresent fear of what is to come. Then a tune by Vaughn Monroe, a prominent […]
Updated September 2025 Geropsychology is “the specialized field of psychology concerned with the psychological, behavioral, biological, and social aspects of aging,” with clinical geropsychology (which is what I do) as the applied version of this field. Geropsychology is a fairly new specialty, only recently recognized by the American Board of Professional Psychology (or ABPP) as […]