Old age psychological disorders

Author: Yang Xinde / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-05-01
Features: Anger is a gradually accumulated emotional experience when external interference suppresses the realization of desires or hinders the achievement of goals. When a person is angry, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, blood vessels dilate, and the tension of skeletal muscles increases. Its typical expression includes furrowed brows, dilated nostrils, flared nostril wings, a wide-open mouth forming a square, clenched teeth, and a flushed face. Anger can produce powerful feelings and impulses of striking. The stronger the anger, the greater the perceived energy and impulses, and the more likely the tendency to engage in physical aggression. Of course, sometimes the anger of the elderly may be masked, but there will still be natural components that indicate an angry experience.
American psychologist Paul Ekman used the "Emotion Quantification Scale" to measure the dimensions of anger, including tension, impulsivity, and self-certainty. The tension dimension ranks second only to fear, the impulsivity dimension has the highest score, and the self-certainty dimension is also quite strong, which can explain why anger easily leads to extreme behavior. The occurrence of anger is a result of an individual's strong desires being restricted or obstructed. These restrictions and obstructions may come from external rules, the control of others, or the individual's own physical or psychological limitations. If such restrictions are mild or concealed, they may not lead to an outburst of anger. Mild anger may also be suppressed for a considerable time, but as long as the restrictions or obstructions persist, anger is almost certain to occur. If anger is persistently suppressed, it will inevitably lead to severe consequences for one's health.
Due to physical frailty, retirement, and other reasons, the elderly are more prone to having their strong desires restricted or obstructed, making them more likely to become angry. For example, interpersonal relationship difficulties are often a significant source of anger in the elderly. Being insulted, deceived, frustrated, or interfered with, or being forced to do things they do not want to, can easily make the elderly angry, and the emotions themselves can also be a cause of anger.
American psychologist Tomkins believed that persistent pain can be transformed into anger. Anger is a normal emotional response, but if the elderly frequently become angry due to minor restrictions or obstructions and lose control, it constitutes a psychological disorder. The original meaning of anger lies in motivating people to strike back with maximum force against aggressors, though in rare cases, it is also used for proactive aggression. In modern society, except for self-defense, aggressive behavior resulting from anger is condemned by social moral norms and subject to legal sanctions. Therefore, anger has increasingly become a sign of expressing one's resistance intentions and attitudes. However, we must also recognize that as a negative emotion, anger can disrupt an individual's cognitive and intellectual activities, narrow their scope of understanding, make it difficult to consider the consequences of their actions, and lead to severe behavioral consequences that would normally be impossible. Persistent and frequent anger can also harm one's physical and mental health.
As the ancient Chinese medical text Nei Jing noted over two thousand years ago, "Excessive joy and anger harm the organs, and when the organs are damaged, illness arises from the yin." Frequent anger can easily increase cholesterol levels in the elderly's blood, making them more susceptible to hypertension and coronary heart disease, and can also worsen the condition of those already suffering from these diseases, potentially even leading to death. Frequent anger can also increase the risk of cancer, particularly esophageal cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer.
Of course, this does not mean that anger is a permanent and absolutely negative emotion. Anger aroused by external aggression is imbued with strong patriotic sentiments, inspiring people to resist the enemy with fearless courage and display heroic behavior. The occurrence of anger depends on the awareness of personal desires being restricted or obstructed. If the elderly do not realize that someone or something is limiting or obstructing their goals, anger cannot occur. Once they become aware of these restrictions and obstructions and deem them unreasonable or malicious, anger is bound to arise, and it may even lead to an attack on the obstructor.
To prevent frequent anger, the elderly must first make reasonable assessments of the restrictions and obstructions to see if they truly have merit. Sometimes, external restrictions and obstructions are reasonable, and we should accept them and adjust our desires and needs according to social expectations. If the restrictions and obstructions are unreasonable, further explanations can be made, and requests can be raised through appropriate channels to seek understanding or forgiveness. Even if one's desires are ultimately unmet, the harm of external restrictions should not be overestimated. For trivial matters, it is unnecessary to overthink or hold grudges, nor should one always assume the worst. When nearing anger, one can command oneself to view the provoking situation lightly and avoid direct confrontation. After the anger subsides, one can objectively evaluate the situation and reflect on whether one is truly at fault and whether anger is justified.
Anger can produce four types of behavioral responses. First, suppressing anger internally. Although one feels immensely angry and aggrieved, the anger is not expressed outwardly, and from the outside, it appears completely calm with no aggressive behavior. This response may not harm others but can damage one's health due to the accumulation of suppressed anger. Second, self-punishment. Believing that the restrictions and obstructions are a result of one's own incompetence, one may condemn, curse, and attack oneself, potentially leading to self-destruction in severe cases. Third, finding scapegoats. Some elderly may not dare to attack the obstructor but instead argue violently with their spouse, abuse grandchildren, or damage furniture. While this response allows the angry elderly to release negative emotions and reduce psychological pressure, it harms innocent scapegoats. Fourth, directly attacking the obstructor with loud shouting, crying, swearing, or physical fighting. Although the latter two responses are irrational and do not eliminate the negative effects of anger, they objectively serve to expel anger and reduce psychological pressure.
This suggests that self-expression may be a good strategy to prevent behavioral disorders after anger. Self-expression refers to the process of expressing aggressive energy in various ways. The concept of expression can be traced back to ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who believed that experiencing emotions firsthand could release them. Later, psychoanalytic psychologists argued that psychic energy is constant, and all actual and imagined impulsive behaviors can release psychic energy and reduce psychological pressure. Modern psychology holds that expression should involve expressing impulses in socially acceptable ways.
Diaries are a socially acceptable way to release impulses. Diaries are extremely compliant, always quietly listening to one's outbursts without any resistance or criticism, making them a docile scapegoat. Self-expressive diaries can fully convey one's thoughts, allowing all inner experiences and emotions to be poured out honestly and without reservation. They do not merely record socially acceptable experiences while hiding those deemed socially unacceptable. The confidentiality of diaries is extremely high, allowing people to freely express themselves without worrying about the content being disclosed. Moreover, since only the author can read the diary, it cannot harm others, making it the best tool for venting negative emotions and reducing psychological pressure.
Therefore, self-expressive diaries should detail the process of experiencing unpleasant emotions, clarifying every detail as much as possible, even including doubts. Then, one should as comprehensively as possible analyze the reasons for the frustration and vent all negative feelings such as resentment, anger, and fear without reservation, even including curses. Of course, self-expressive diaries often involve attacks on others, so absolute confidentiality must be ensured. Additionally, keeping such diaries for a long time and repeatedly "reviewing" them can be harmful, as it may evoke past frustrations and pains. Thus, after calming down, it is best to destroy the diary completely.
Alternatively, one can consider venting anger in an open and desolate place, facing a large tree, a river, or a mountain, and fully express their anger.
Self-control requires some psychological techniques. First is the technique of calming down. Professor Urijs of the United States proposed three principles for calming oneself:
1. Lowering one's voice to avoid intensifying the emotions that have been triggered.
2. Slowing one's speech rate, as speaking too quickly can accelerate the outburst of emotions.
3. Keeping one's chest straight and not leaning closer to the other person.
Second is the technique of silent listening. Parkinson, in his book Knowing People Well, discussed: "If a quarrel occurs, remember to keep silent." This means letting the other person finish speaking and then reasoning calmly once the anger has subsided.
Third is the technique of shifting attention. Wang Shu, a nobleman from the Spring and Autumn period, was easily angered but skillfully avoided being provoked by shifting his attention. Even though he remained in the scene, his focus moved to other things, ignoring the other person's aggressive words and preventing himself from becoming further agitated.
Finally is the technique of role reversal. Professor Kelly of the United States, while working at a computer company in California, encountered two employees arguing. He suggested they argue from each other's perspectives. After five minutes, both parties laughed and quickly found a solution.