The Emergence of Loneliness in Adjusting to Late Adulthood

Loneliness is an uncomfortable feeling that arises when a person feels isolated or does not have adequate social relationships. The problem of loneliness often arises in late adulthood, or 'elderly', where individuals experience major changes in their lives such as retirement, loss of a spouse, or children who have moved and are living independently.

Loneliness can occur due to a number of factors, such as a lack of social connections, difficulty building new relationships, or loss of existing ones. Loneliness can have a negative impact on a person's mental and physical health, such as increasing the risk of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.

In adjusting to late adulthood, loneliness can be a difficult challenge to deal with. However, with the right support and effort, individuals can overcome loneliness and strengthen their social connections to achieve greater mental and physical well-being.

Before that, we need to know the definition of emptiness syndrome, adjustment and late adulthood:

Empty Nest Syndrome

Empty Nest Syndrome is a common feeling of loneliness or sadness experienced by parents when their children have left home. Several researchers have shown that changes towards an empty nest period are more dominant in women, especially housewives. Compared to fathers, mothers will experience more stress when their children start leaving home to start a new life, because mothers spend more time and energy with their children.

Not only experienced by parents, this syndrome may also be experienced by younger ones. However, there are distinct similarities that influence the appearance of this empty nest syndrome, namely the degree of closeness between individuals. The closer an individual's relationship with other individuals, the greater the potential for him to experience this loneliness syndrome.

Adjustment

Interpreted as mastery, namely the ability to plan and organize responses in certain ways so that conflicts, difficulties, and frustrations do not occur.

Late adulthood

Late adulthood is also called the closing period in a person's life span, where this period can be said to be a period that is moving away from previous lives or periods. From a psychological point of view, the elderly have an age range of 60 years and over, at which age there is a decrease in physical strength and memory loss.

According to Mbaeze & Ukwandu (2011), the empty nest syndrome phase has several symptoms that are generally experienced by the elderly. These symptoms include:

1. Feelings of loss

This feeling arises when parents can no longer carry out their role of looking after and caring for their children, because the child no longer lives in the same house with them. This feeling of loss occurs commonly in parents who have a very close relationship with their children.

2. Feeling sadness

The sadness experienced by parents when experiencing empty nest syndrome can be a combination of several other life events, such as menopause, retirement, and so on.

3. Emptiness in individual life

Individuals who experience empty nest syndrome will feel empty in their lives. The emptiness in this case is caused by reduced activities or routines, children who have been able to live independently, and problems faced by families.

By understanding these symptoms, individuals can identify more deeply what they feel and what they need. Please note that it is normal for individuals to feel these feelings when they enter the final adult phase. It's also completely normal to feel sad when the kids leave home and things in the family aren't what they used to be. Such a situation requires good and appropriate handling.

How to Overcome Loneliness in the Elderly

For many people, coping with loneliness can be reduced by staying in touch with their children, either in person or by phone, video call, or something else. In times of stress and loneliness, it can also be helpful to seek social support. For example, by gathering with friends of the same age or neighbors, or doing activities together in the community such as gymnastics, religious activities (majlis taklim), and so on.

What's equally important is taking good care of yourself, in the form of a healthy diet, exercise and enough sleep. Don't forget to keep doing activities such as reading, listening to music, watching TV, going for walks, shopping, watering plants, feeding pets, cleaning rooms or houses, and so on. If done according to ability --don't push yourself or get tired-- these activities can make you feel happy and busy, so they can dispel loneliness.

Finally, it's important to remember that overcoming loneliness is a process that takes time and effort. This is because the problem of loneliness can be very complex and is often related to many factors, such as social isolation, limited social skills, and past traumatic experiences. Therefore, solutions to overcome loneliness cannot be achieved in a short time.

However, there are things older people can do to strengthen their social connections. First, they can take the initiative to participate in social activities, such as being involved in a community, which allows them to meet people who share the same interests. Second, they can use technology to stay connected with people who are important to them, such as family and friends. For example, they can arrange regular video calls or leverage social media platforms to share stories and experiences.

In this case, the support of family and friends can also be very helpful in overcoming feelings of loneliness or needing other assistance. If necessary, the elderly can also involve a therapist or counselor to help overcome the problems of social isolation they face.

Overcoming loneliness is not easy and requires time and effort. However, by taking small steps to strengthen social connections, as well as seeking support from those closest to them, older people can overcome loneliness and feel more connected to the world around them.

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Editorial Team:

Cakrawala Ramadhani Putri Arisiva, Mahdatania Nur Utami, Regita Rivandra Suhari, Dinda Tri Kurnia, Fatimah Az Zahra, Anita Eka Samira, Huzaiva Ramzee

 

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Bougea, Despoti, and Vasilopoulos. (2019). Empty-nest-related psychosocial stress: Conceptual issues, future directions in economic crisis. Psychiatriki, 30 (4)

Mbaeze, I. .., and Elochukwu Ukwandu. 2011. “Empty- Nest Syndrome, Gender and Family Size as Predictors of Aged Adjustment Pattern.” Pakistan Journal of Social Science 8(4):166–71.

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