Trauma In Older Adults

Although trauma and aging a topic that is not discussed often, it is something that should be taken into consideration and understood. Trauma and the effect it has on older adults is something I have not heard discussed until this class. Before the discussion, I had never considered the effects that trauma has on older adults. Initially, I thought that trauma would be something that the older adults experienced in the care of something and the effects it has on it. However, now it is clear that trauma, in regards to, older adults is on a broader spectrum.
While it is common to learn about older adults and their traumas in Human Development or Psychology of Aging classes, the lasting impact of the trauma is unimaginable. In previous classes, we only focused on situations that occur in a person’s life that can have an emotional effect on them. In the article entitled, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Older Adults: A Conceptual Review”, Drs. Patricia Averill and J. Gayle Beck examines the issue of understanding posttraumatic stress disorder in older adults (2000). The article basically takes a look into the long term effect that previous experienced traumas have on older adults. Although the article examines the issue with the understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder in older …show more content…
At this very moment, it is something that I have never heard of and I feel that if people were to become more aware then posttraumatic stress disorder in older adults will be avoided. One of the reasons why people do not seek therapeutic help is because they assume that therapy or counseling is for people that have been deemed psychologically crazy or insane. I feel that once people become aware that therapy is not just for people that are deemed insane or “crazy”, people would be more open to utilizing therapy to discuss the issues that they may