SOME TIMES TO BE ON SPECIAL GUARD AGAINST EXCESS DISABILITIES
You are kept from doing what you physically can do. When any barrier impedes independent functioning, people are especially vulnerable to developing excess disabilities. The barrier might be another person - a well-meaning ' 'helper'' who takes over jobs you can do for yourself. Or the impediment might be truly physical: your living conditions themselves may magnify any minor limitations you have.
For example, because climbing the hill to his apartment building is difficult, Mr. Jones does not go out as much. Yesterday, when he did leave the house, it was much harder to walk around the block. If he lived in the building at the bottom of the hill, he would be walking to the store every day. Standing on her feet for a long time is a strain, so Mrs. Walker lets her husband take over the cooking. Soon she is even more physically depleted, unable to stand at all. In both cases, minor difficulties are being transformed into life-crippling problems because the environment is fostering incapacity instead of promoting an independent life.
The solution. If you feel this problem fits you, try this approach: (1) Home in on exactly what is keeping you from functioning up to your potential (standing too long by the stove; reaching for food and seasonings). (2) Think of several possible solutions to each problem. (To avoid standing too long, I could bring a chair into the kitchen; cook meals not requiring elaborate preparation. To avoid reaching, I could rearrange the shelves more conveniently; ask my husband to set out the dinner ingredients but not take over everything.) (3) Decide which courses of action are most feasible and implement them. If you have problems in carrying out a plan, try a backup. Don't give up until your environment brings out your Physical best.
You have recently been ill or have had a frightening symptom. It is easy to develop excess disabilities after a temporary medical scare. Even though the problem is a passing one, the person thinks, "I am old." So it seems only logical to assume the body has permanently broken down.
For instance, one hot day a man gets dizzy on the tennis court. He concludes, "This is it. I'm just too old to play anymore.'' But the correct lesson should be "Play, but avoid sweltering days." Or a woman falls walking down the steps of her building after she has been in bed for a week with a fever and decides she will never go out alone again. Or since his heart attack Mr. Smith has given up sex completely, even though the doctor gives him a clean bill of health.
The solution. If this difficulty applies to you, visit your doctor for a checkup and reassurance. Then start regaining your confidence slowly. Play a short volley of tennis on a cool day and gradually build up. Take a friend and be very careful the next time you negotiate those steps. Going slowly at first will help ensure that you don't have any new symptoms, and it will let you begin believing in your body again.
You regularly take medications. Side effects of medication often mimic classic symptoms of "old age." Sometimes adverse reactions appear days or weeks after you begin taking a drug, making it difficult to connect the physical change with the medicine. Disabling side effects are more likely to be endured rather than questioned in later life, because they are misinterpreted as the new "old" me.
For months an unmentionable problem made me reluctant to venture out. While shopping or visiting a friend, I would feel a gooey sensation between my legs. Imagine my dismay when I confessed to my daughter and this was her response: "That's terrible, Mom, but what do you expect at eighty-five^" I could not accept the idea that I was doomed to diapers, and so I tried frantically to link my problem to another cause. I came up with the idea that my trouble had started after I began taking my heart pill. I called my doctor, we tried another medicine, and my "old age" incontinence was gone.
How common are drug-caused excess disabilities? We can get an inkling from the iceberg's tip. From 12 to 17 percent of all hospital admissions for the elderly are caused by adverse drug effects. If the rate of severe reactions is this high, the incidence of moderate side effects must be many times higher. Sometimes we willingly accept an unpleasant symptom as the price a drug exacts for saving our lives. But sometimes we suffer needlessly out of ignorance, when another medicine would work just as well or when no drug might leave us better off.
*18/159/5*
GENERAL HEALTH
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