Common stressors for older adults
Although each individual is unique and has a separate set of stressors, there are some common factors that lead to increased stress in the lives of many seniors.
Health status and ability
- Deteriorating or declining health.
- Health care costs.
- Increasing dependence on others.
Lack of purpose
Although we might associate purpose in life with many of the factors of aging, such as experience, wisdom and maturity, older adults often find themselves feeling a lack of purpose in their later years. This phenomenon can take place due to changes in social roles. This decline in sense of purpose that many older adults experience is troubling as an individual’s sense of purpose has been shown to play a key role in markers of physical health and well-being for seniors. Research conducted at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center has found that people who enjoy a greater sense of purpose in life are more likely to have slower rates of mental decline, even if they experience the development of plaques and tangles in their brains. Purpose has also been linked to decreased mortality in older years (Boyle, Barnes, Buchman, & Bennett, 2009).
Older adults may feel a lack of purpose:
- After retirement – Those who define themselves by their job or career may lose their focus when they retire.
- With increasing social isolation – Older adults who become less social with family and friends sometimes experience a feeling of not being needed.
Loneliness and Isolation
Loneliness and isolation are common stressors in the lives of seniors. Life events, such as the loss of a spouse, family members, friends or even pets can create an overwhelming sense of isolation. Recent research shows that social relationships and connections are a key factor in longevity (Kaye & Singer, 2018) (Singer, C. M. 2018). Participation in a community has a powerful effect on the health and well-being of older adults. SilverSneakers instructors can be a positive influence in the lives of those who feel lonely or isolated. Connecting with your SilverSneakers participants and creating opportunities to encourage a sense of community can have a powerful impact on your class members.
Signs of stress in older adults include:
- Headache
- Short-term memory lapses
- Digestive distress
- Constant fatigue
- Irritability
- Heart palpitations
- Sleeplessness
- Unnecessary worrying
- Negative feelings or attitude
- Poor concentration
- Feeling “out of control”
If these warning signs of stress are experienced on an ongoing basis, it is best to be proactive about finding ways to manage stress before it can create lasting physical and mental challenges.
How do older adults experience stress?
Young and old alike face difficult situations and strive to overcome obstacles. While younger adults often struggle with careers or how to juggle family demands and work, older adults may find themselves dealing with dwindling finances or deteriorating health. Just the thought of maintaining independence may create considerable stress for seniors with health challenges.
Older adults often find that stress has a different effect on their lives in later years than it did in their youth. In younger years, stressors tend to be shorter in duration, like a crying baby or a hard day at work, whereas in later years, common stressors are more likely to be long term, such as the loss of a loved one or anxiety over a loss of physical abilities, including hearing, vision, balance or mobility loss. Because seniors are less likely to participate in strategies to manage these long-term stressors, the health and well-being of older generations can be negatively impacted.
Additionally, our ability to handle the harmful effects of stress can decrease as we age. “Stress dysregulation ends up being a normal part of the aging process – one that is measurable” (Medina, 2018).
For example, cortisol is normally highest in the body when we first wake up. If life remains calm, it continues depleting throughout the day. On a calm day, there is an 85 percent decrease from morning until evening. Sometime around the age of 40, baseline levels of cortisol begin to rise, and the body begins to lose the normal cortisol rhythm of higher levels in the morning and lower levels in the evening. Another factor to consider is that even though aging bodies still make as much stress hormones as they did when they were younger, it takes longer for the body to respond to threats.
The hippocampus, an area of the brain that is associated with the formation of long-term memory, is a critical part of the stress response. This small section of the brain plays a major role in moderating stress in the body, turning off the cortisol release when danger is no longer present. If the hippocampus ever failed to turn off the cortisol “switch,” the level of this stress hormone would remain abnormally high long after any immediate threat has vanished. Unfortunately, this is exactly what begins to happen to cortisol levels as we age. The hippocampus begins to lose the ability to completely shut off this stress hormone. The consequences of this loss of effectiveness in the “off switch” of the stress response in older adults can be a decrease in health status and well-being.
For older adults, the stress response takes longer to “rev up” — taking longer to calm down as well.
There is good news, however, about aging and the stress response. The damage caused by long-term elevation of stress hormones is not necessarily permanent. The hippocampus can create new neurons, a process called neurogenesis. We can recover from the damage that long-term exposure to cortisol can cause to this area of the brain by making healthy lifestyle choices, including exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, engaging socially with others, experiencing new and stimulating intellectual challenges, and managing chronic stress.
Those individuals with chronic diseases are affected by stress to a greater degree than healthy individuals. The presence of conditions like diabetes and heart disease, places an extra burden on the body, making it even harder to bounce back physically from stress.
According to the 2015 Stress Snapshot released by the American Psychological Association, younger adults report higher stress levels than seniors, but older adults are most likely to say they do not feel they are doing enough to manage their stress.
Because older generations are less likely to be practicing stress management techniques, these strategies have great promise for those seniors who make the choice to manage their stress and take control of their health.