People are getting tired of aimless life in the growing age in western society
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Then she bent slightly and came closer to me, as if she was telling me a secret, she said, “Shall I tell you what I am? I am strong. I want to tell myself and you that there is nothing left for me here. I am ready to go when my time comes. In fact, it cannot come soon enough.
Molly was 88 and in good health. Her two husbands, siblings, most of her friends and only son have passed away. He told me, “I don’t have any meaningful relationships left, they’re all gone. and you know what? I also want to leave this world without all of them.” Then she bent slightly and came closer to me, as if she was telling me a secret, she said, “Shall I tell you what I am? I am strong. I want to tell myself and you that there is nothing left for me here. I am ready to go when my time comes. In fact, it cannot come soon enough.
I have interviewed many older people for research. Every so often, I am struck by the sincerity with which some people feel that their lives are complete. He looks tired while living. I am a member of the European Understanding Tiredness of Life in Older People Research Network, a group of geriatricians, psychiatrists, social scientists, psychologists and death scholars. We want to better understand this state of mind and find out what is so unique about it. The network is also working to provide advice to politicians and health care practices, as well as caregiver and patient support.
Else van Wijngaarden, professor of care ethics in the Netherlands, and colleagues listened to a group of older people who were not seriously ill, yet felt yearning to end their lives. The major issues he identified in such people were: the pain of loneliness, the pain associated with not meaning, struggle with self-expression, existential fatigue, and the fear of being reduced to a completely dependent state. It was not that this was the mindset of those who suffered a lifetime of suffering, or of intolerable physical pain.
Life fatigue starts arising even in those people who consider themselves to be living life to the fullest. One in 92 people told the network’s researchers: Being you doesn’t matter at all. The ship sails and everybody has a job, but you just sail along. I am cargo for them. It’s not easy. That is not me. Humiliation is a very strong word, but what we feel is somewhere around that. I feel neglected, totally marginalised. Another person said: Look at the condition of those old women in the building opposite.
Slender and decrepit, aimlessly wandering here and there on a wheelchair… It has nothing to do with being a human being. This is a stage in life that I absolutely do not want to go through. A Different Kind of Suffering American novelist Philip Roth wrote that “aging is not a war, aging is a massacre”. If we live long enough, we may lose our identity, physical abilities, partner, friends, and career. In some people, it evokes a sense that life has been stripped of meaning – and that much of what we need to make our lives purposeful is now impossible.
In Sweden, Care Professor Helena Larsson and colleagues write about the gradual “withering away of light” in old age. He argues that people continually withdraw from life until they reach a point where they are ready to break away from the outside world. Larsen’s team raises the question of whether this might be unavoidable for all of us. Of course, this type of suffering shares characteristics (it is depressing and painful) with suffering we experience at other points in our lives. But it is not the same. Consider the existential pain that can result from a terminal illness or a recent divorce.
In these instances, part of the suffering is related to the fact that there is still more to travel in life – but that the rest of the journey feels uncertain and no longer looks like we had imagined. This type of suffering is often associated with grieving for the future we feel we should have had, or fear of the future we are unsure about. One of the hallmarks of life weariness is that there is no desire or lament for the future; There is only a deep feeling that the journey has come to an end, yet it drags on painfully and indefinitely.
Global view In countries where euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal, doctors and researchers are debating whether life fatigue leads to the kind of extreme emotional suffering that gives people the right to euthanasia. The fact that this problem is common enough for researchers to debate may be one suggestion that modern life has pushed older people out of Western society. Perhaps the wisdom and experience of older people is not given that much respect anymore.
But it is not necessary that it should be like this everywhere. In Japan, coming of age is seen as a spring or rebirth after a busy period of working and raising children. One study found that older adults in Japan fared better in terms of personal development than middle-aged adults, while the opposite age pattern was found in the US. Surgeon and medical professor Atul Gawande argues that in Western societies, improved medical facilities have created ideal conditions for turning aging into a long and cumbersome process. They believe that the quality of life has been neglected because we are spending our resources on biological survival. This is unprecedented in history. Life fatigue can be the result of this.
Disclaimer:IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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