Use in Elder Studies

A second example of the applicability of Adler’s theory occurs at the other
end of the life cycle: old age. Late life is a period in which the incidence of
mental disorders, especially depression, increases. This can be understood
in terms of diminished opportunity to sustain social interest and increased
sources of inferiority feeling.
Recall that social interest has three pillars: career, friends, and family. Traditionally,
one retires from one’s career at about age sixty-five. Elders who
do not develop satisfying new activities (especially activities which involve a
sense of accomplishment and contribution to others) adjust poorly to retirement
and tend to become depressed. Old friends die or move into retirement
communities. Sometimes it is harder to see and talk with old friends
because of the difficulty of driving or using public transportation as one
ages, or because one or one’s friends become hard of hearing or experience
a stroke that impairs speech. By far the greatest interpersonal loss in later
life is the loss of a spouse. When adult children move away in pursuit of their
own lives, this may also give an elder the perception of being abandoned.
Conditions that can rekindle old feelings of inferiority abound in later
life. Real physical inferiorities arise. The average elder reports at least two of
the following chronic conditions: impaired vision, impaired hearing, a
heart condition, stroke, or arthritis. The United States is a youth- and bodyoriented
culture that worships physical attractiveness, not wrinkles and fat.
Some elders, especially those who have had the burdens of long-termillness,
feel inferior because of their reduced financial resources.