The Aging Process: What Happens to Our Bodies as We Age?

Aging Process 

Aging is a process that is continuous and gradual that starts in the early years of adulthood. In the early middle years, most functions in the body start declining gradually (Bishop & Leoni, 2015). There are five main developmental stages that occur during the aging process. The five developmental stages were developed by Dr. Mark Frankel. In the first stage, an individual is self-reliant. A person is able to handle major issues such as chronic health issues on his/her own and little help is required at this point. 

The second stage is the interdependence stage. During this stage, an individual is reliant on others people such as spouse, friend etc. for help. In this stage, majority of older adults see interdependence as a sign of decline and a person should start searching for living options that are independent (Feldman, 2011). The third stage comes with dependency. In this period, an individual becomes increasingly dependent for assistance with routine activities such as cooking. In addition, a decline in physiological ability decreases too. At this point, most people usually cope with a number of chronic problems and pain. The fourth stage is known as crisis management whereby the health and mental status have reduced to a level that one stays dependent on other people (Feldman, 2011). The last stage is the end of life where the aged person is taken to a nursing home. In this case an individual requires extensive individual assistance. 

There are four main models of ageing. They include biological model in which cell or DNA impairment can cause an accumulation of cells that are not competent (Cellerino & Tozzini, 2017). On the other hand, in organismal aging, the process of aging is seen from a holistic point of view that is founded on mechanistic aging. Contextual aging explains aging from an individual’s social and environmental aspects while developmental psychology puts together different domains to explain the aging process instead of focusing on one area. 

Reference  

Bishop, J., & Leoni, C. (2015).  Lara Favaretto: Ageing process . Berlin: Sternberg Press. 

Cellerino, A., & Tozzini, E. T. (2017). Biology of aging: New models, new methods.  Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 70 , 98. doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.07.024 

Feldman, R. S. (2011).  Development across the life span . Boston: Prentice Hall.