Throughout an individual’s life, they have and face many different fears. As people age, different fears begin to arise. These fears are real and have a high probability of occurring. There are four common fears among older adults. These include fears relating to mortality, dependency, outliving financial assets, and dementia. As older adults age, the fear about their own mortality and losing those people surrounding them increases. Thanatophobia, or death anxiety, for older adults is focused on the dying process rather than just death itself. Older adults fear what will happen to them before they die.
The second common fear is dependency and the loss of control. Most older adults do not want to have to rely on others to do things. There are a lot of underlying attitudes and emotions relating to dependency. Individuals tend to be very proud and having to think about others caring for them is unthinkable. Most of them see death as preferable when compared to the loss of control.
The third common fear is outliving financial assets. Most older adults might have a savings account for their later years but there is no way to know how long this money will last. As different health issues arise, more money might be needed to receive the care required. Different situations might lead to funds not being available when needed. Since there is no way of knowing at what exact age one will die, this fear is very prevalent. Individuals can calculate and estimate how much their assets will provide them but there is no way of determining if a set amount of money will be enough. This fear ties into the fear of dependency because once an individual’s financial assets are depleted, they may have to rely on others to provide for them.
The fourth fear is dementia. This fear revolves around the fear of forgetfulness or having diminished mental capacity. This can be characterized by diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. There is a fear of forgetting the names and faces of loved ones, forgetting or completely stopping doing simple tasks of daily living, or receiving the diagnosis and thinking they are incapable of living a normal life.
These common fears are realistic and there is no way to avoid them. One of the best things to do is to plan ahead and get regular health screenings to help alleviate these fears. There are different professionals who can help with estate and financial planning as well as help prepare advance directives. They can help to ease these common fears.
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By: Cindy Birrueta
Placement Specialist at WellPath Partners
B.S. in Healthcare Administration at California State University, Long Beach
