Middle Age - Psychiatry Transcription

MIDDLE AGE:

VOCATIONAL AND FAMILY ADJUSTMENTS

• Centers around work and family
• Has greater effect on women

VOCATIONAL ADJUSTMENT (thrown out of work to give way to young adults)

• Sex differences in vocational adjustment
• Men reach vocational success in status and income.
• When unsatisfied
• Tends to change job
• Line of work
• Vocational instability
• Ending of responsibility for the support of the children.
• Realization of declining opportunity to change job.
• Women has lesser chance of being hired, increased salary and promoted than men
• True in all except “women fields”.
• Elementary school teaching, nursing, beauty culture and other similar jobs.
• Less desire to stay in the same job and tends to career.
• Assessment of vocational adjustment
• Achievement
• Success in terms of
• Income
• Prestige
• Authority
• Autonomy
• Based on what he had hoped for during his younger days.
• Women fail to achieve vocational success for those who stop working after marriage.
• Satisfaction
• Little chance for adjustment.
• Nearing compulsory retirement.
• Pressure of work due to aging.

CHANGED WORKING CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT MIDDLE-AGED WORKERS

• Unfavorable social attitude
• To old to learn new skills to keep pace with the young adults.
• Uncooperative in their relations with coworkers.
• Absenteeism due to failing health.
• Hiring policies
• Companies believed that maximum production can be achieved by hiring young workers.
• More economical because of the high amount of retirement pension unlike the young adults.
• Increased use of automation
• For those who have low intelligence.
• Training for specific lines of work only.
• Health that causes them to work more slowly.
• Group work
• Training puts stress on their social adjustment.
• Role of wife
• As husband becomes successful; wife tends to become successful in his own field (community affair).
• Compulsory retirement
• Dominance of big business
• Workers of small companies that had been merged to large ones feel that they have no place for them in the new organization.
• Relocation
• Moving to new location assigned to sustain the job (managerial)

CONDITIONS INFLUENCING VOCATIONAL ADJUSTMENTS IN MIDDLE-AGE

• Satisfaction with work
• For those who work for the family rather that the line of job they like
• Opportunities for promotion
• Vocational expectations
• Assess their achievement in light of his earlier aspiration
• Increased use of automation
• Boredom and lack of pride in their work.
• Possibility of  losing job
• Nervous
• Unwillingness to retain
• Attitude of spouse on:
• Status
• Low pay
• Far from home
• Attitude towards big business
• Attitude toward coworkers
• For those who resent the treatment they receive from their superiors or their coworkers
• Relocation

CONDITION CONTRIBUTING TO VOCATIONAL SATISFACTION

• Achievement of goal set earlier
• Satisfaction of family members on the achievement
• Opportunities for self actualization
• Congenital relationship with coworkers
• Satisfaction with the treatment from the management
• Satisfaction with the provision given by the company
• Security on the job
• Relocation

ADJUSTMENT TO CHANGED FAMILY PATTERNS (withdrawal of children from the family and taking care of aging parents)

Women are more affected

·         Physical and attitude changes due to aging and loss of reproductive function

Men can compensate changes by deriving added satisfaction from work

Marriage disenchantment

o   Lack of vocational success

§  Strains of family life

§  Unfavorable attitudes of family members towards his work

o   In women, they feel disenchanted when she;

§  Feels useless after her maternal responsibilities\

§  His husband is more consernd about work

Adjustment to changed roles

·         “Empty nest” period

o   When children leaves home

o   Depends on the size of the family

§  Smaller has greater effect

§  Threat when the expected child is not successful

o   Difficulties for those who hane/are:

§  Few outside interest (only to her children)

§  Overly protective and possessive parents

·         Adjustment to spouse

o   Dependent again upon each other for companionship

·         Sexual adjustments

o   Increased after “launching stage”

o   Poor sexual adjustments are due to:

§  Difference of sex drives

§  Men is concerned with loss of sexual vigor

§  Women develop more interest in sex

§  Last chance to conceive

§  Little satisfaction from coitus

·         Adjustment to in-laws

o   Children’s spouse

o   Taking care of aging parents

§  Conditions affecting adjustment

·         Role reversal

·         Place of residence

·         Degree of responsibility

o   If considered burden

·         Relationship of aging parent to middle-aged person

o   If parent or an in-law

·         Role played by elderly parents

o   If able to help to chores and not burden

·         Sex of elderly parent

o   Men cause less work and interfere less than women

·         Earlier experiences with elderly parent

·         Attitude toward elderly parents

Deprived of opportunities for new interests when both

·         Adjustment to grand parenthood

o   Roles played by grandparents

§  Formal role

·         Hands of policy

§  Fun-seeking role (without responsibilities)

§  Surrogate-parent role

§  “Reservoir of family wisdom” role

§  Distant figure role

CONDITIONS COMPLICATING ADJUSTMENT TO CHANGED FAMILY PATTERNS IN MIDDLE-AGE

• Physical changes
• Menopause and climacteric
• Loss of parental roles
• Lack of preparation
• Feeling of failure
• Feeling of uselessness
• When parental role diminished
• Marriage disenchantment
• Care of elderly relatives

ADJUSTMENT TO SINGLEHOOD (single, widowed, divorced)

• Unmarried are adjusted to being single
• Women are realistic that it is harder to have a spouse at forties
• Men find it more advantageous to be a bachelor
• Problem of single women are:
• Employment and vocational advancement
• Expected to take care of elderly parent
• Financial, physical and emotional burden

A Good Example of Middle Age. My Parents On Their 40s. Celebrating Love and Life Together.