Adventures in Old Age

Basketball coaching requires a high level of cognitive organization. Pat Summit, age 59, just revealed she has early onset Alzheimer's. She plans to continue coaching, and says she will increasingly rely on her staff to help her. But will she be anything more than a figurehead? Will she reign in the fashion of the Queen of England, but not rule as a prime minister? Read More

Keeping a promise is normally good for your emotional health. Plus, this wisdom is moral wisdom of the ages. Oath keeping is a pillar of all civilizations. But both our current debt ceiling crisis and the onset of World War I indicate that a moral virtue—loyalty—can be a tragic flaw. Read More

Now that our long national nightmare of Weinerhood is over, I have to say when you have the name Weiner, it doesn't help that your scandal was about your wiener. If your name were, say, Jones, strike that, Smith, you might not have been in the same amount of trouble. Read More

In writing about their names, women reveal what is most important about their sense of identity. They offer us new ways of thinking about the self--new psychological and spiritual insights drawn from ancient traditions, different religions, cultures, races, and age groups. Read More

Led by Paul Ryan, the Republicans' plans for the the poor and vulnerable elderly would be devastating, But who cares? Poor people don't vote. Read More

George Costanza said: “I love a good nap, sometimes it’s the only thing getting me out of bed in the mornings.” Some people feel that way about life and the dirt nap. Read More

Feminists assert that being home alone with the kids leads to social isolation. Neo-traditionalists counter employment is stressful, particularly when you're isolated from your kids. Who’s right? As in all things psychological, it depends. Read More

Dieters avoid foods they recognize as forbidden based on product name. When a dish is assigned an unhealthy name (pasta) it is seen as less healthy than when it's called by a healthy name (salad). Non-dieters do not avoid foods based on names and eat anything. Read More

The bottom line is how long it takes to clean Mom’s bottom. But a nursing home has only to adhere to a minimum standard for bottom cleaners—like the astronaut asked if he gets scared: “No more scared than anyone sitting on a billion parts all built by the lowest bidder.” Read More

My aunt had Alzheimer's but was physically fit. My uncle was physically unable to drive but sound of mind. They'd go out driving--Aunt Molly at the wheel. Uncle Sam telling her where to go. So be careful when you're walking or driving in West Palm Beach. Read More

When we put cut flowers in water, or old people in nursing homes, are we only prolonging the agony? Read More

Pollster Stanley Greenberg and political operative James Carville, last year, reported on a series of focus groups with older, white Republicans in Georgia. They were on a quest to understand the hardcore opposition to Obama. Is it racist?

They concluded no. They admonished us to "Get over it." The animus to Obama, they claimed, is "based in the same unwavering, bedrock conservative principles that have always led them to oppose liberal policies. Some of their subjects even claim to be post racial-"proud" there is an African-American president.

I have my own informal focus group, and I'm not buying it. Read More

The average resident of a nursing home takes about 9 different medications each day. Handholding is at a premium in institutions that have only enough staff to spend, on average, a total of two-hours, twenty-minutes of face time per resident per day.

But based on my personal experience with the somewhat discredited Dr. Bettelheim, I know he would say we need less drugging, more handholding. Read More

My son, who is entering college this fall--as I'm preparing to sign big checks--told me that a classmate of his is opting to become a police officer rather than going the four-year college route. This reminded me of an exercise I conducted while in the lower depths of graduate school that compared the lifetime earnings of a college professor and a police officer--the police officer won. Read More