Gerontology & Geriatric Research

Abstract

The Publication of Data on Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults and Risk of Dementia Gives Rise to Broadening this Issue on Problems of Patient's Overall Life Trajectories

Andrzej Brodziak, Alicja Różyk–Myrta and Agnieszka Wolińska

Recent publications of data on the trajectories of depressive symptoms prompted the authors to consider the advisability of widening the debate on the possibilities of setting and recording 'general, overall trajectories of life'. The authors set themselves the goal of formulating the outline of a method for determining the overall trajectory of life and ways of presenting such a data set. The authors argue that if the trajectory of life concerns aspects related to the estimation of health, then the most concise and useful way of its presentation is to formulate the so-called 'Sequence of adverse life events' that led to the illness or health disaster. The authors cite an example of such a record. They also emphasize that considering the general trajectory of life requires not only the use of methods arising from neural sciences (autobiographic memory) and various schools of psychology, but that it is very useful to refer to distinguished literary (cultural) works.