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6 - Mental Health in Old Age

from Part I - Ageing and the Good Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2022

C. S. Wareham
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
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Summary

What does it mean to be mentally healthy in old age? According to one account, it means to have a mind that is normal, or natural, for an elderly person. According to another, it is to enjoy the same substantive goods that characterize mental health at other ages – so that the mentally healthy ninety-year-old is just like the mentally healthy forty-year-old. Neither approach is plausible. This chapter offers an alternative “resourcist” account, which evaluates mental health in old age by asking what mental resources are most likely to help someone to live well as an elderly person. Living well involves both having good moments and of contributing to a good life story. What it means to be mentally healthy in old age then depends on what opportunities are granted by natural ageing and by social practices for elderly people to expand and conclude the stories of their lives.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Mental Health in Old Age
  • Edited by C. S. Wareham, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of the Ethics of Ageing
  • Online publication: 23 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861168.007
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  • Mental Health in Old Age
  • Edited by C. S. Wareham, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of the Ethics of Ageing
  • Online publication: 23 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861168.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mental Health in Old Age
  • Edited by C. S. Wareham, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of the Ethics of Ageing
  • Online publication: 23 August 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108861168.007
Available formats
×