Everyone knows that the elderly is the one who is no longer young, who is beginning to age. Then irreversible changes occur in the human body. However, graying hair, wrinkles and shortness of breath do not always indicate the onset of old age. But how to determine the very age when a person can be classified as an elderly person?
Different times, different opinions?
It was once believed that old age is when a person is over 20. We remember many vivid historical examples when young people got married as soon as they were 12-13 years old. By the standards of the Middle Ages, a woman at the age of 20 was considered an old woman. However, today is not the Middle Ages. A lot has changed.
Later, this figure changed several times and twenty-year-old people began to be considered young. It is this age that symbolizes the beginning of an independent life, which means flourishing, youth.
Modern views on age
In today's society againeverything somehow changes. And today, most of the young people, without hesitation, will classify those who have barely crossed the thirty-year mark as the elderly. Evidence of this is the fact that employers are quite wary of applicants over 35. And what can we say about those who have stepped over 40?
But after all, it would seem that by this age a person acquires a certain self-confidence, life experience, including professional one. At this age, he has a firm life position, clear goals. This is the age when a person is able to realistically assess his strength and be responsible for his own actions. And suddenly, as the sentence sounds: "Elderly." At what age can an individual be considered elderly, we will try to figure it out.
Age limits
Representatives of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences say that recently there have been noticeable changes in determining the biological age of a person. To study these and many other changes that occur to a person, there is the World He alth Organization - WHO. So, the classification of a person's age according to WHO, says the following:
- in the range of 25 to 44 years - the person is young;
- in the range of 44 to 60 - has an average age;
- from 60 to 75 - people are considered elderly people;
- from 75 to 90 is already old age.
All those who are lucky enough to step over this bar are considered centenarians. Unfortunately, few live to 90, and even more so to 100. The reason for this isvarious diseases to which a person is susceptible, the ecological situation, as well as living conditions.
So what happens? That old age according to the WHO classification has become much younger?
What sociological research shows
According to opinion polls conducted annually in different countries, people themselves are not going to grow old. And they are ready to classify themselves as elderly only when they reach the age of 60-65 years. Apparently, bills to increase the retirement age originate from here.
Older people, however, need to devote more time to their he alth. In addition, a decrease in attention and the speed of information perception does not always allow people over 60 years of age to quickly adapt to a changing situation. This takes on particular relevance in the context of scientific and technological progress. It is sometimes difficult for people who have reached a certain age to master innovative technologies. But few people think about the fact that for many people this is the strongest psychological trauma. They suddenly begin to feel worthless, useless. This exacerbates the already exacerbated situation of age reassessment.
My years are my we alth
The WHO age classification is not an absolute criterion for assigning a person to a certain age category. After all, not only the number of years characterizes the state of a person. Here it is appropriate to recall the well-known proverb, which says that a person is as old as he feels himself. Perhaps this expressioncharacterizes the age of a person to a greater extent than the WHO age classification. This is due not only to the psycho-emotional state of a person and the degree of deterioration of the body.
Unfortunately, diseases that overcome and exhaust people do not ask for age. Both old people and children are equally affected by them. It depends on many factors, including the state of the body, immunity, living conditions. And, of course, on how the person himself relates to his he alth. Once not fully cured diseases, lack of normal rest, improper diet - all this and much more wears out the body quite strongly.
Old age is for many grumbling, bad memory, a whole bunch of chronic diseases. However, all of the above disadvantages can also characterize a relatively young person. Today, this is far from being a criterion for assigning a person to a certain age category.
Midlife crisis. What is his threshold today?
Everyone is well aware of such a thing as a midlife crisis. And who can answer the question of at what age it often occurs? Before defining this age, let's understand the concept itself.
A crisis here means a moment when a person begins to rethink values, beliefs, evaluates his life and his actions. Probably, such a period in life comes just when a person has lived years, experience, mistakes and disappointments behind him. Therefore, this life period is oftenaccompanied by emotional instability, even deep and prolonged depression.
The onset of such a crisis is inevitable, it can last from several months to several years. And its duration depends not only on the individual characteristics of a person and on his life lived, but also on the profession, the situation in the family and other factors. Many emerge victorious from this life collision. And then middle age does not give way to aging. But it also happens that aged and lost interest in life people who have not yet reached 50 years old come out of this fight.
What the World He alth Organization says
As we discussed above, according to the WHO classification, old age falls into the range from 60 to 75 years. According to the results of sociological research, representatives of this age category are young at heart and are not at all going to write themselves down as old people. By the way, according to the same studies conducted a dozen years ago, all those who reached 50 years of age or more were classified as elderly. The current WHO age classification shows that these are middle-aged people. And it is absolutely possible that this category will only get younger.
Few people in their youth think about what age is considered old. And only over the years, crossing one line after another, people understand that at any age, "life is just beginning." Only having accumulated a huge life experience, people begin to think about how to prolong youth. Sometimes it turns into a real fight with age.
Signs of aging
Old age according to WHO is characterized by the fact that people experience a decrease in vital activity. What does this mean? Elderly people become inactive, acquire a lot of chronic diseases, their attentiveness decreases, their memory deteriorates.
However, according to the WHO classification, old age is not just an age range. Researchers have long come to the conclusion that the aging process occurs in two directions: physiological and psychological.
Physiological aging
As for physiological aging, it is the most understandable and noticeable to others. Since certain irreversible changes occur with the human body, which are noticeable to himself, as well as to those around him. Everything changes in the body. The skin becomes dry and flabby, which leads to the appearance of wrinkles. Bones become brittle and because of this, the likelihood of fractures increases. Hair becomes discolored, breaks and often falls out. Of course, for people trying to keep their youth, many of these problems are solvable. There are various cosmetic preparations and procedures that, if used correctly and regularly, can mask visible changes. But these changes will become noticeable sooner or later.
Psychological aging
Psychological aging may not be as noticeable to others, but this is not always the case. Older people often change a lot. They become carelessirritable, tired quickly. And this often happens precisely because they observe the manifestation of physiological aging. They are unable to influence the irreversible processes in the body and because of this they often experience a deep emotional drama.
So what age is considered old?
Due to the fact that the body of each person has its own characteristics, such changes occur in everyone in different ways. And physiological and psychological aging does not always occur simultaneously. Mentally strong people, optimists are able to accept their age and maintain an active lifestyle, thereby slowing down physiological aging. Therefore, answering the question of what age is considered old is sometimes quite difficult. After all, the number of years lived is not always an indicator of the state of a person’s inner world.
Often, people who monitor their he alth feel the first changes in their body and try to adapt to them, reduce their negative manifestation. If you regularly take care of your he alth, then it is possible to push back the approach of old age. Therefore, those people who fall into the category of “old age” according to the WHO classification may not always feel like such. Or, on the contrary, those who overcome the 65-year mark consider themselves ancient old people.
Therefore, it would be useful to once again recall what folk wisdom says: “A person is as old as he feels.”
