Marris P
Int J Aging Hum Dev. 1978;9(2):127-35. doi: 10.2190/dgpl-yvh3-bftn-8b0b.
The onset of old age can be understood as a sequence of losses--of relationships, physical abilities, functions--which must be grieved. It represents a kind of psycho-social transition, whose generic characteristic is a breakdown in the structure of meaning by which we interpret events and which forces us to re-interpret that structure before we can assimilate the events that have provoked the breakdown. The better we understand such transitions as retirement, and loss of health, the more likely we can find ways to create the social and psychological conditions in which to work through the grief. The attitudes of American society towards old age tend to make these transitions harder than they need be.
老年的开始可以被理解为一系列的丧失——人际关系、身体能力、功能等方面的丧失，这些丧失都需要人们去哀悼。它代表了一种社会心理转变，其一般特征是我们用以解释事件的意义结构的瓦解，这种瓦解迫使我们在能够接受引发这种瓦解的事件之前重新解释该结构。我们对退休、健康丧失等此类转变理解得越好，就越有可能找到方法来创造社会和心理条件，以便度过悲伤。美国社会对老年的态度往往使这些转变比实际所需的更加艰难。
