Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses some core physical and mental aspects of getting old, for example maintaining and increasing the mobility, improving the sleep and the digestion, and becoming a more active participant in the consultations with health professionals. It focuses on the social and the psychological aspects of getting old such as choosing where to live, becoming more oneself and using the idea of styles of romantic love. There is a bleak view of the truth about getting old and a positive one. The bleak view is that as people get old, they get stiffer, more bent over, more achy, incontinent, falling and forgetting more and more and believing that life is all downhill from now on. The positive view is that many older people become stronger through life experience.