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The Affective Alienation of the Elderly

A Humane and Ethical Issue

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Book cover Aging: Culture, Health, and Social Change

Part of the book series: International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine ((LIME,volume 10))

Abstract

The way in which people have regarded old age throughout the history of humankind has been contradictory: for example, older people have been appreciated for their wisdom and have been looked down upon because of their progressive feebleness. There is no doubt that aging brings about physiological changes that frequently are associated with psychological and social difficulties in the process of adaptation to a new way of life, a life that may be as rewarding as during the previous periods if the person is able to maintain a sense of personal identity and continuity. That is the basis for successful aging. Unfortunately, however, aging is viewed mostly as a progressive, biological deterioration over time, the anticipation of death.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA

    George B. Palermo

Authors
  1. George B. Palermo
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de Médicine, Université de Montréal, Canada

    David N. Weisstub (Philippe Pinel Professor of Legal Psychiatry and Biomedical Ethics) (Philippe Pinel Professor of Legal Psychiatry and Biomedical Ethics)

  2. Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center, USA

    David C. Thomasma (Professor and Fr. English Chair of Medical Ethics) (Professor and Fr. English Chair of Medical Ethics)

  3. Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Centre for Studies on Aging, Faculty of Medicine, McGill Univesity, Canada

    Serge Gauthier (Professor of Neurology) (Professor of Neurology)

  4. Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, Australia

    George F. Tomossy (Ross Waite Parsons Scholar) (Ross Waite Parsons Scholar)

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Palermo, G.B. (2001). The Affective Alienation of the Elderly. In: Weisstub, D.N., Thomasma, D.C., Gauthier, S., Tomossy, G.F. (eds) Aging: Culture, Health, and Social Change. International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0677-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0677-3_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5896-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0677-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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