Existential psychological analysis of old age

The paper presents an existential psychological view of old age understood as a phenomenon of individual life meaning perspective. The different possible scenarios of getting old are theoretically analysed, both negative («run¬ning away from old age», «rushing for youth») and positive ones (acceptance of one's old age and an existential gift to oneself). It is shown that the specific choice of old age scenario is associated with one's individual attitude to one's own death. A subjective phenomenological view of being old is described, which includes a number of aspects, such as being alone or presented to oneself, a contemplative stance towards life, changing the scale in perception of own life, existential determination in taking mastery of oneself, experience of atemporal present and discovery of being commensurate with one's own time, adopting an stance that involves accomplishing things that one had started, completing the projects conceived, and accepting the things that never came to existence.

Aleksandrova M. D. Problemy social'noi i psihologi­cheskoi gerontologii. L., 1974.