Adulthood And Death

Throughout late adulthood lifestyle, choices are vital and can be improve as well if decisions are suitably considered. Factors such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, sex, nutrition, and even weight management are each significant factor, which influence aging, and some disease process. Although these factors can be self-regulated, the individual lifestyle depends on proper decision making throughout life. Late adulthood is supposed to be the golden year a time to relax, go fishing and really enjoy what has to offer but "age prejudice is one of the most socially accepted forms of prejudice in America today" (Borman, & Lammlein, P. 27, Para 1 2006). In fact, within American bias attitude toward the elders is more apparent than a common area under discussion as racism or gay and lesbians. Aging myths are common in much tête-à-tête as well as displayed within the media, casual jokes, Web-blogs, face book, and professional literature, which conditions society. Consequently, some of these myths perilously put many elders in harms-way. Furthermore, through the general perceptions an individual who are aging automatically becomes senile, unbalanced, irrational, lonely, and incompetent.

Young children have little or no concept of life or death. Therefore, they are unable to understand death. Young children watch cartoons, movies, television shows, and read fairy tales where a person is able to come back to life after dying. This make- believed world makes it even harder for a young child to understand the finality death represents. Bee & Boyd (2009) state that school age children, around the ages of six or seven, are able to understand the basic biological facts of life and this are able to possess a basic biological understanding of death. The major difference between children and adolescents is children are able to understand both the inevitability of and permanence of death. Children and adolescents both believe death is something that only happens to people much older than they are so they generally spend little time, if any, worrying about their own deaths. Adults whether in early, middle, or late, adulthood have had some personal experience with death and have even had a near death experience of their own. Because adults have lost people close to them to death they have a better understanding of what that loss means and they may come to fear not only their own death but also the death of other loved ones.

In early adulthood, most people begin experiencing the loss of people in their own age group that forces them to accept the reality that that tomorrow is not promise to anyone and life could end at any time. Children do not experience this feeling, as younger people do not normally die. Of course as a person ages the likelihood of losing people close to them, or to dying themselves, becomes more and more likely. Older adults generally care for children. Once a person reaches early and middle adulthood, they begin to face having to care for their elderly sick parents and/or grandparents. These important family members will rely on the younger family members for care and addressing their final wishes upon their death. As a person moves into middle and late adulthood, they begin to have to care for loved ones such as siblings, friends, and spouses who become ill and eventually die. It is in middle, and especially late, adulthood that people begin to become most concerned with their own death. During this time, a person also becomes more concerned with the loss of those close to them and important in their lives. As we age it seems we spend more and more time at funeral homes and attending funeral services because along with age comes facing more grief and loss. Just as children spent very little time, if any, being concerned with their own deaths people in middle and late adulthood become more and more focused upon this eventual and unavoidable event.

Everyone feels a sense of loss following the death of a loved one, but the way these feelings are experienced