Creativity in the Elderly and Other Psychological Aspects of Active Longevity

Kupriyanova V. A.*, Zakharchuk A. G.**, Spivak D. L.*

*Institute of the Human Brain, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

**St. Petersburg State Healthcare Institution "City Geriatric Medical and Social Center"

Theses for the VI Scientific and Practical Gerontological Conference " Pushkov Readings" (2010)

Currently, in medicine and psychology, the problem of not only increasing the life expectancy of people, but also prolonging its active, fruitful period is becoming relevant.

Within the framework of the scientific school of studying altered states of consciousness (ASC) founded by Professor L.I. Spivak and Academician N.P. Bekhtereva in the early 1990s, ASC is understood as one of the widespread, but non-optimal strategies for the active adaptation of a normal person to unusual and/or extreme conditions, consisting of the temporary induction of a number of special mental phenomena.

The adaptive role of religion is to create a common picture of the world for all believers, to establish a system of values and norms of behavior, to determine life goals and aspirations. It is believed that religious practice leads to a decrease in anxiety, to the emergence and strengthening of a sense of security.

Creativity, as the ability to perform creative acts that lead to a new, unusual vision of a problem or situation, should help overcome many age-related obstacles: from a decrease in self-care to overcoming social isolation.

The aim of our study was to investigate the adaptive potential of a person: to determine the role of psychological defenses, altered states of consciousness, religiosity and creativity in studying their influence on the level of neurosis and the mental state of patients.

Patients and methods

A total of 80 people aged 65 to 98 years (16 men and 64 women, average age 79.92±7.72 years) were tested using the questionnaires PS (Mental States), UL (Level of Neuroticism), ISS (Signs of Altered States of Consciousness), IZhS (Life-Style Index), Inspirit (Index of Basic Spiritual Experiences) and projective tests by E.E. Tunik "Psychodiagnostics of Creative Thinking". The patients had age-associated pathology of the cardiovascular system (various forms of coronary heart disease, chronic heart failure I - III FC, hypertension I - III stage, rhythm and conduction disorders) of the musculoskeletal system (senile osteoporosis, polyosteoarthrosis).

Results and discussion

Firstly, gender differences are noteworthy: the sample was formed from the oldest and most intact patients of both sexes. Moreover, out of 80 patients, 64 were women, mostly widows.

Secondly, the performance of tasks is affected by the current general health of the patient and disorders of the central nervous system: Many subjects have difficulty understanding the questions, especially those with cerebrovascular disease and cognitive deficits, who were also included in the survey group.

As for individual characteristics, it has been shown that with age the intensity of basic psychological defenses (especially projection and denial) increases. After 80 years, a decrease in the degree of intersubjective fluctuations in the level of neuroticism is noted, approaching the average values of diagnostic coefficients. The same tendency is noted in self-assessment of mental state.

Over time, the degree of expression of altered states of consciousness increases in long-livers. At the same time, interindividual fluctuations in the corresponding values increase.

The importance of basic religious concepts in a person's life reaches its maximum at approximately 80 years of age, after which it declines slightly.

The level of creativity of all types (verbal, figurative, mixed) is steadily declining. This can be explained both by the theory of disuse and by the general decline in intelligence. The level of education affects the performance of tasks, and the factor of decreased self-esteem caused by aging and the personal interest of the subject in achieving the result also play a role.

As a rule, those who have been involved in teaching and held leadership positions follow instructions most accurately (and cope with tasks more successfully).

At the same time, in individuals who showed the highest results in creativity tests, the level of neuroticism, psychological defenses, altered states of consciousness and religiosity was significantly lower than in other subjects, which, on the one hand, can be explained by the preservation of intelligence, and on the other hand, by the adaptive significance of creativity in human life.

Thus, it can be assumed that with age, long-livers activate hidden reserves of personality – activation of psychological defenses, increased expression of altered states of consciousness and level of religiosity. Creativity plays a significant role in patients with high rates of creative abilities, but decreases with age.

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant 09-06-00012a.

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