Which physical change do you think causes the most anticipatory stress to people as they age?

Perhaps, from experience, I can emphatically state that the most anticipatory stressors likely derive from the superficial aspects of aging., those areas that are easily observable and judged by our society. No matter the reality of aging or its inevitability, when we see the first visible signs of aging, it makes no difference that these changes are universal nor that our wrinkles are caused by a combination of changes in the structure of the skin and its connective and supportive tissue and exposure to sunlight (Cavanaugh, 2014). From a social point of view, our culture is preoccupied with youth. It is uses to sell everything from burgers to diamonds to trucks to makeup. The latter being strange because the youth inherently possess the look that they are purchasing in a bottle. This obsession with youth has boundless repercussions on the attitudes and expectations of our aging population. To feel accepted in a perpetually youthful society one must retain their youthfulness. When it becomes increasingly apparent that youth is fleeting, the anticipatory stress can become overwhelming.

One aspect is the Rate of Living as it relates to a finite amount of energy that any one person has that cannot be replaces once diminished. The second is a cellular approach that says that cells have a limited number of times they will divide and the process slows and ends as we age. Lastly, a Programmed Cell Death has to do with an individual's genetic programming or predisposition to determine death, similar to a build in self-destruct mechanism. However interesting, none of these theories have answered completely the question of why we age and at what rate and most importantly, how to reverse it's process. We cannot discount the vast changes to our bodies that occurring during this natural process.

While the superficial aspects of aging may seem most prevalent and most impactful, I would guess that the actual greatest most anticipatory stress for the aging would fall in the realm of our vital functions, especially the cardiovascular and respiratory systems (Cavanaugh, 2014) . These significant aspects of aging, which profoundly contribute to the process of aging, is the dissociated activities of the sensory systems. These dissociated activities have the greatest impact upon the change in the physiological and biochemical functions. These changes contribute to the skew in the homeostatic balance of the body which ushers in the most anticipatory stress. The most common chronic diseases common to these systems include cardiovascular disease, emphysema, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

There is indeed a disconnect between the two, and I believe this occurs because the difference in the nature of anticipatory and actual stress development is primarily because of the psychological biases towards social factors. One is seen outwardly and judged socially as factors that are more easily assessed and have the greater affect on the behavior and emotions of a person. These sociological factors also affect the beliefs of an individual, which lead to the biased interpretation of the stress. The actual stressors are inward, occult and largely ignored until they are aggravated. These systems are not considered when young because they are expected to work properly. Our lecture outlines that because of the importance of these systems, it is so important to our aging process and quality of life to give needed attention to the maintenance of these systems through diet, exercise and nutrition.

Reference

Cavanaugh, J. C. (2014). Adult Development and Aging, 7th Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781305176683