P4: Explain two different theories of ageing

One of the theories of ageing is the disengagement theory. This the idea that as you grow old different things would cause you to slowly lose touch with society; be it illness, retirement or lack of technology.
Illness can affect a person's ability to remain in contact as you could be admitted to hospital or having poor eyesight and hearing can also make it difficult to remain in contact with people. Also seeing as other friends would be going through the same thing so they would also cause it to be difficult as well.
Retirement can also affect the ability to remain in contact with people. This is because if you have to leave work you will be unable to see your colleagues on a regular basis thus disengaging you from society.
Also having a lack of technology could affect a person's ability to remain in contact with family and friends. This is because of the growing use of social networks and mobile phones being used to communicate without it may prove difficult to contact others.
It has been argued that it is completely natural and healthy for a person to withdraw themselves from society. The reason for this is that as you grow older developing your own sense of individuality is key. Another argument for the disengagement theory is that what with being disengaged from society it would give the person a chance to deal with knowing that they will die and help them go through that without the stress of work and other things. But of the other hand developing a sense of individuality at that age can be considered too late; and giving a person more time to realise that they are going to die soon can contribute to a person developing mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety.
This theory was initially suggested by Cumming and Henry. They came up with nine reasons to back up their theory. * Everyone expects death, everyone's abilities will deteriorate. As a result of this a person's ties with society will break. * Because having social interactions with many different types of people can help develop a person's idea of "social norms".