The age advantage
Seniors citizen are at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 but they also have psychological resilience to fight it.
SEPARATIONS and farewells, traumas and losses: Those who live a long life gather experiences, not all of them good. That can strengthen us, says a psychologist, for example, during the coronavirus crisis.
Shops are reopening in some places, and slowly schools are as well. But for most people at higher risk of severe illness from the novel coronavirus, lockdown measures haven’t eased. Older adults in particular still face social isolation for quite some time to come.
Fortunately, however, many of them may have an age-related resilience to help take adversity in their stride, notes Dr Anja Mehnert-theuerkauf, who heads the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at Leipzig University Medical Centre in Germany.
In the following interview, she talks about the benefits of routines and the potential danger of jogging suits.
Why are older people better equipped to deal with the psychological effects of the coronavirus crisis than younger ones.
Dr Mehnert-theuerkauf: A person of advanced age presumably has overcome a number of serious crises in life – not necessarily a war, but personal crises such as a divorce, severe illness, loss or failure. If you’ve gone through things like these, you’re likely to have built up a store of inner resources and coping mechanisms. So while older people are physically more vulnerable, they could be psychologically more robust.
Doesn’t this have a negative side? Can’t it lead to imprudent behaviour?
In this case, yes. It’s basically good to know yourself and your needs. And it’s not bad when you believe in your self-efficacy, have the feeling “I’ll be fine.” In confrontation with an invisible threat like coronavirus, though, it may be a dangerous miscalculation.
At the same time, the pandemic’s impact is especially hard on older people since they’ll probably have to remain isolated for a
long time. What does this mean?
First of all, it draws attention to how many seniors in our society were already lonely and isolated. To put it more pointedly, the pandemic-related isolation hardly makes any difference to many of them, as that’s their normal way of life. Maybe their family members live far away or they no longer have any. But the duration of the quarantine alone can naturally be torture, particularly for people who live in a [nursing or retirement] home or small flat, and may have little opportunity to go outdoors.
Should society react, or can those affected do something themselves?
Both. Of course it’s an obligation for society as a whole. You can’t simply keep elderly people on lockdown for months. At the same time, all of us must bear responsibility for keeping them especially protected. But seniors have responsibilities too. For one thing, they’ve
got to protect themselves, for example by practising social distancing. And they also have to see to it that they go outdoors now and again, stay active and generally look to the future.
Could you be more specific? Doing something is always better than doing nothing. This means sticking with routines, for instance, getting up in the morning and taking a shower even though you’re not going anywhere. Every day you should plan to do something pleasant, be it watching an interesting TV show, talking to acquaintances on the phone or having a good meal, a nice breakfast.
And what shouldn’t you do? Hang around all day in a jogging suit on the couch. I’d discourage that, because behaviour, feelings and thoughts are closely linked. If all you do is lie around and maybe start to brood, you’ll feel like a loser before long and then lie around all the more. This vicious circle is dangerous. Over time it
can lead to depressive moods.
So positive thinking is important?
No, it’s not about that. It’s about doing something to create structure, and about breaking a vicious circle if you get caught in one. This always begins with being active, even when you don’t feel like it at that moment. And when you’ve had a bad day and may be dissatisfied with yourself, it’s important to re-motivate yourself and tell yourself that tomorrow is a new day and you’ll start with a clean slate. What if that doesn’t work? Then at some point you’ll need help. If you realise you can’t cope any longer, that you can’t manage the situation yourself, you’ve got to turn to someone. It could be friends, relatives, an emergency hotline or a similar service, psychological counselling. It’s important that you don’t hesitate to accept help, that you admit to yourself you need it. This itself is a sign of competence. – dpa