CD276-ADC

Aging should be viewed as a slowly emerging developmental phase in the life span of the individual. It involves a dual process: 1) primary aging, which may be considered the normal progression of biological matter towards eventual death, and 2) secondary aging, which is pathological and is a result of environmental deficiencies and stresses imposed upon the organism.People, regardless of age, relate to their environment only to the degree in which it contains information relevant to them. Environment has a language containing messages that constantly convey information to us. We perceive and decode these messages through our sensory apparatus. Our sensory, organs envelop each of us with personal spatial boundaries within which messages may be perceived, and which may differ in dimension and scope for each organ. With aging, our sensory organs undergo changes which limit their capacity to perceive and decode the messages received. In addition there is the psychological dynamism of the exclusion of stimuli, which is a defensive maneuver of our problem‐solving self, our ego, when our reservoir of psychic energy is at a low ebb. Yet, culturally we do everything possible to minimize the amount of information carried by these modalities.Both the aging process and the environment have their particular languages. Improving the communication between them can prevent or reduce the state of reciprocal withdrawal, which is all too common among the aged and enhances the feeling of alienation and despair. A great deal can be done to enrich the environmental information and thus augment the messages carried to the aging organism.