Promised Land or Purgaatory
Is it great that we are going to live to be one hundred years old? Sure, if we can stay healthy that long. My Grandpa lived to be about eighty-five years old. But did he enjoy all eighty-five years of it? In my opinion he didn't. When he was younger he was just like every average person out there. He enjoyed playing sports and he eventually started his own business. With age it weakens our minds as much as our bodies, severely challenging our ability to remain mentally acute and emotionally positive (Johnson 10). I think he had a great childhood and a great family. But the last couple of years of his life he was just miserable. He wasn't his same old self. He ended up getting cancer and died. Through the pain I saw him go through I can see why some people might resort to going to Jack Kevorkian to end their lives. I totally disagree with that choice, but I have never suffered the pain th
I feel there are more key roles to why elderly people get depressed. I believe that serotonin could be a possibility but I don't believe it is the entire answer. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter most closely linked to feelings of happiness, confidence and calm, and it declines with age (Johnson 10). Withdrawing from society is one of the worst things an elderly person can do; study after study has shown that social support and active engagement with other people combat depression (Johnson 11). Exercise is the cure for everything. Mental and physical exercise seems to pay off for elderly people. I agree with that statement, the more you visit with them and make them feel special, the more they enjoy living. The subjects ability to switch rapidly from one task to another improved, their distractibility decreased, and their ability to stop doing whatever they were doing (like taking their foot off the accelerator while driving) increased (Johnson 12). One study shows that aerobic walking improves executive function in people between the ages of 60 and 75, and there is no reason to believe that this would not hold true for 80 and 90 year olds (Johnson 12). Elderly people being sick is not the only thing that makes their lives miserable. For example, I believe that battling depression becomes harder because elderly people k!nows that death is right around the corner and they feel they have nothing to live for. I also believe if you have a hobby or even the internet then you will never fall into a lethargic older person. But I think it is best with senior citizens because it gives them something to look forward to.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
