Perspectives on Changes in Adulthood BSHS 342 May 13, 2010 Dr. Margaret Garberina Perspectives on Changes in Adulthood Everyone has his or her own philosophy of how a person changes during early, middle, and late adulthood. My personal philosophy is it depends on the person’s situation. If a person is married and has children, he or she will go through aging differently from a person who is single and never had children. The following paragraphs will explain my philosophy on what changes a person goes through in his or her activities, relationships, health, and mental health in each stage of adulthood.
Activities During early adulthood, a person is very active. They are hanging out with friends, working out, and enjoying life any way they can. A person in early adulthood has more stamina and is more willing to do more cutting edge activities, such as bungee jumping, cliff jumping, and white water rafting. If they have children, their activities will consist more off raising their children and playing with them. Whereas a person who does not have children will do whatever they want to do because he or she are not tied down to one place.
A person in middle adulthood still has energy, but maybe not as much as they did when he or she was younger. They still are hanging out with friends, and working out. A person in middle adulthood would rather stay home during the evenings than wanting to go out to the bars and stay out all night. If they have children, their children would be grown up and not needing their parents attention all of the time. A person in middle adulthood will start focusing more on what they want to do before he or she die. A person in late adulthood is not very active. Their bodies are worn down and they are tired most of the time.
Some people will still do some daily exercises but the exercises will not be extensive as they were when they were younger. Many people in late adulthood will still hang out with their friends. By late adulthood, their children would have children. The person would want to play with his or her grandchildren as much as he or she can. Relationships A person during early adulthood will have many relationships. They will keep going on dates with people until they meet the “right one”. Once a person has found the “right one”, their relationship will be hot and steamy at first.
Some will marry and have children. Some of these relationships will skip marriage and have children right away. A person who does not want to be tied down to the same person for the rest of his or her life will keep bouncing back and forth between relationships. A person during middle adulthood might experience relationships differently. Some relationships will still be strong, and they will be together until they die. Whereas some relationships, after their children have grown up and out of the house, might spilt up because they realize they have nothing in common anymore.
A person who did not want to be tied down to the same person for the rest of his or her life, might still be bouncing back and forth from relationships. Relationships during late adulthood are very unique. The relationships that have been together since early adulthood might be broken up because of a death. Some people cannot live without their spouse, and will die a couple years after, whereas some people will look for another companion. The people who were divorce or that did not have anyone, might be content living the rest of their years without anyone by his or her side.
Health and Mental Health Depending on the person, their health and mental health are good during early adulthood. Not everyone is the same. Some people might have health or mental health problems for their whole life, whereas, some people might develop problems during early adulthood. Most people in their early adulthood do not take care of their bodies as well as they should. They go out drinking all night, and then eat non-healthy food during the day. Women, who want to have children will need to take care of their bodies etter than women who do not want to have children but sometimes this is not the case. Many people in their early adulthood do not think of the consequences that might happen later in life. During middle adulthood, more health problems start. Their memory is not as sharp and depending on what their diet and exercise was like during early adulthood, some people might be overweight. Women who had children might not have lost the weight they put on during pregnancy. When these individuals find that they are not healthy, they will do whatever they can do to try to get better.
During late adulthood, even more health problems start. Their memory is not good and their health is declining. Even though some people have taken care of their bodies for their whole life, could have health problems when they are in late adulthood. The main reason why people’s health decline when they are in late adulthood is that their immune system is weak and it cannot fight off diseases as well. Everyone has his or her own philosophy of how a person changes during early, middle, and late adulthood.
My personal philosophy is it depends on the person’s situation. If a person is married and has children, he or she will go through aging differently from a person who is single and never had children. I have formed my philosophy by just watching people grow over the years. I see different aged people every day of my life and I ask them questions about how they feel compared to when they were younger. I have also read many articles over the past years about getting older. I am only 24, but I want to make sure I will live a long time.
