Are you lonelier as you get older? Children should pay attention to their parents' mental health

Recently, a piece of news has aroused heated discussion among netizens. A girl born in the 1990s in Wuhan and her family of three all suffered from COVID-19. In mid-February, her father died after ineffective treatment. The girl endured the grief and logged into her father's WeChat account every day to contact her mother and encourage her to persevere. After treatment, the mother and daughter recovered one after another. The girl gave her mother strength and confidence with her own strength and wisdom.

While the girl's concern for her mother was praised, it also indirectly highlighted that in addition to physical health, the mental health of the elderly is also very important and needs active attention. The life stage of middle-aged and elderly people means that they often have to face the situation of "loss", and negative life events such as widowhood, property loss, and loss of orphans are increasing. These life events are often the main cause of the decline in the mental and even physical health of the elderly.

The Healthy China Action Plan (2019-2030) points out that "mental health is an important part of health. We must correctly understand the impact of major life and work changes on people's psychology". The life events of the elderly mainly include four types: social loss, disease events, changes in social roles, and changes in daily life patterns. When negative life events occur, the elderly often find it difficult to adapt in the short term and develop a variety of psychological problems.

How to pay attention to and improve the mental health of the elderly, the following suggestions are put forward:

1. Build a family network. Children should communicate with their parents more often, and relatives should visit each other more often. Strengthening the family network can help buffer the negative impact of negative life events on the mental health of the elderly.

2. Friends network is also a "safety valve" and "pressure reducer". Expanding the social circle of the elderly through the friend network and closely connecting the elderly with the community and interest groups can promote the physical and mental health of the elderly.

3. Actively prevent risks. Care for the mental health of the elderly, pay attention to disease risks and safety risks, and improve the quality of life in old age.

4. In addition to actively adjusting their own psychology and cultivating and enhancing their personal psychological capital, the elderly also need to actively communicate with others and build their own social circles. Studies have shown that when facing psychological pressure and negative emotions, the elderly are more likely to choose internalization, which is not conducive to maintaining a long-term mental health state.

5. Give more care to the elderly who are in poor health. Due to physiological problems such as illness and medication, some elderly people have a fear of disease and a negative attitude. For such elderly people, more care and love should be provided.

In addition to paying attention to the quality of life and physical health of the elderly, family members should also pay attention to their mental health and behavioral changes. In the face of negative life events, the material support and spiritual comfort of family members will play a decisive role. Of course, the elderly also need to establish good interpersonal relationships with people around them, and actively seeking interpersonal support and help is also a feasible way to alleviate the negative impact of negative events.

This article was scientifically reviewed by Wu Ruihua, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.