根据材料请回答 23～30 Caring for the OldThe old do not have to look exclusively（单一地)

根据材料请回答 23～30

Caring for the Old

The old do not have to look exclusively(单一地)to the past.Relieved of some of life's responsibilities and fortified (被加强了的) by many years of.experience and knowledge, they may have a much better idea of how to spend their time enjoyably than they did in their youth.And not all enjoyment is restricted to the mental or philosophical.Healthy physical activity remains quite possible for most of us well into our later years.

Old people sometimes display surprising freedom and forthrightness (直截了当)in the expression of their thoughts and feelings, and an ability to transmit affection.It is as though some of the rituals which constrict(限制) us in earlier life fall away.

But a higher percentage of people suffer from emotional distress(沮丧) in old age than at any other time in adult life, and the gap between need and care is often filled by dubious measures, such as heavy-handed prescription of medicine.For many years it was assumed that old people were not appropriate candidates for psychotherapy(精神疗法).But a few clinicians(临床大夫) have risen to people the challenge and discovered that individual and group psychotherapy is just as effective with the old as with the young.

It is easy to understand why an earthquake causes terror.Yet in old age there may beterror of a very private nature, a sense of disintegration (崩溃，衰变)sometimes seeming from inner conflicts, sometimes from a premonition (预感)of death or the fear of becoming dependent.

Dependency is a grim(可怕的) choice_- insecurity(缺乏安全感) and deprivation(丧失能力) must be weighted against loss of autonomy(人身自由 ) and integrity(个体独立).But if there is nothing shameful about the dependency of a baby or a young child, there should be nothing shameful about the dependencies natural with old age and diminishing physical resources.

The complexity and impersonality of the bureaucratic (官僚主义的) establishments(官僚机构), which have the means to provide help, are often threatening to old people.The younger generation today, on the other hand, will have had many decades to interact with" the system" by the time they reach old age.

Many of us, including healthcare providers, assume that we know what old people and dying people want, but our assumption are often a reflection of our own thoughts and feelings based on personal interpretations of scanty (贫乏的)bits of observation.Such as-sumptions are really an excuse to avoid close Contact with the terminally ill(病入膏肓的人).Assuming we "know" what they want, we absolve(开脱罪责) ourselves from being with them, and sharing their thoughts about the end of life.

We sometime assume, wrongly, that old people are too confused or senile (衰老的) to be aware of the nearness of death.In consequences, communication between a dying per-son and others is subject to ordinary omission and distortions(扭曲)."Protecting" the dy-ing from knowledge of their condition often serves to protect us from the uncomfortable re-spect of talking about dying and death.Evasions like this only lead to increasing isolation at a time emotional honesty and understanding are most needed.

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