Age is not only a quantitative and absolute concept. It still exists as a stage in the process of psychological and physical development. And quite a long time. From birth to death, to be exact. Dozens of years, and some - about or more than a hundred. And, accordingly, age categories and periods of life could not but form, which in many respects intersect with each other. However, this can be told in more detail.
Infancy
If we talk about age categories, then you need to start from the earliest period. And this, of course, is infancy. Which is also divided into certain categories. The first period (neonatal) lasts from the moment of birth until the 1st month. It is determined by weak emotional development - the child has a too “generalized” state. And the baby himself requires the constant participation of parents in every process of his life.
2nd period - from two to three months. It is characterized by a more developed emotional system. You can see that the baby already knows how to get upset and smile at familiar people, even focus on the face.
The next period lasts from 4 to 6 months. The child already has a more or less strengthened emotional and sensory system. He recognizes people who are constantly near him, distinguishes acquaintances from strangers, knows how to determine the direction from which sounds come.
In the period from 7 months to 1.5 years, the child develops and learns motor abilities. When his age exceeds the mark of 2 years, the time of increased physical activity begins. And the child himself moves to another age category.
Childhood
It's quite a long period. Which is divided into several more. For early childhood (from 1 to 3 years) and preschool age (from 3 to 7). The first category is often called the nursery. This is a conditional division, which is associated mainly with social reasons. A child who first went through a nursery, and then through a kindergarten, does not experience further difficulties in fitting into a new team (class at school).
If we talk about age categories, then such a cell as schoolchildren can be considered one of the most difficult in psychological terms. Since it is during the period of education that the personality of the child is formed and a certain “foundation” is laid, which will play its role in the future.
In addition, children related toschool age category, grow intensively in all plans. There are such processes as ossification of the spine and growth of the skeleton, muscle tissue grows, the nervous apparatus of the muscles finishes forming, but lung tissue, lung capacity and volume increase. And, of course, the early age categories of children are characterized by the functional development of the brain. By the age of 8-9, the child already has a firmly established type of higher nervous activity.
Adolescence
It also needs to be noted with attention, talking about the age categories. This period is ambiguous. Girls are considered teenagers between 10 and 18 years old. Boys - 12 to 18.
Children of this age are experiencing turning points in the development of the body, because puberty occurs. The activity of the endocrine system changes, as does the functionality of organs. Children begin to grow more intensively, an increase in body weight is observed. The production of hormones is enhanced, which is reflected in psychosocial development. Adolescence ends with the end of puberty. And the children move to another age category.
Youth and youth
Here the psychological aspect plays a big role, not the biological one. And opinions differ. So, for example, psychologist E. Erickson believes that youth lasts from 13 to 19 years old, after which youth sets in, which lasts until the age of 35. During this period, a person begins to “ripen”, realize himself and, as a rule, enter into a relationship.
Hereif we turn to the classification of the APN of the USSR, defined in 1965, then after adolescence follows adolescence. But for girls it starts at 16 and ends at 20, and for guys it lasts from 17 to 21.
If we talk about the biological component, then in people of this age category, the final completion of physical development is observed. But only in guys the body does not yet reach the strength and strength characteristic of an adult man. The same applies to girls. The figure of young ladies is clearly different from those possessed by women who have gone through childbirth. And in biological terms, the concept of youth is conditional for this very reason. A person may be 19 years old, and, in fact, psychologically she is considered a girl. But if she gave birth to a child, then her body loses its youth. And call her objectively a woman, not a girl.
Middle age
Or, as it is commonly called, maturity. Talking about the age categories of people by year, it cannot be ignored. It is believed that this is the longest period. Traditionally, it lasts from 21 to 60 years for men, and from 20 to 55 for women.
The table of age categories shows that it is divided into two periods. The first is from 21-20 to 35. It is characterized by stable functioning of the body. After 35, the average person begins neuroendocrine restructuring. Basic physiological indicators are slowly but progressively decreasing. Perhaps the appearance of primary signs of diseases that usually overcome older people. But if a personhe althy, leads the right way of life - then all this can be postponed indefinitely. Again, the age categories of people are one thing, but how they manage their he alth is quite another. At 20, you can look 35, and vice versa. Some "specials" have kidney failure even at 25.
Specific maturity
Specialists studying the age categories of the population managed to find out a lot of interesting and useful data. For example, the death rate of people of mature age from malignant tumors has tripled over the past 60 years.
And due to the fact that by the second period of maturity a person increasingly begins to feel tired from constant work and the same lifestyle, various forms of pathology begin to appear. These are injuries (domestic and industrial), tumors, cardiovascular diseases. Largely due to the fact that a person ceases to critically evaluate himself - it seems to him that he is as young and full of energy as he was at 25. But if he is 50, then he can no longer do anything the way he does. de alt with it 20 years ago.
And cardiovascular disease is a sad topic. They arise due to the fact that constantly accompanies a modern person in life: stress, nervous tension, depression, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, smoking, alcohol. In addition to this, during the period of middle age, additional mental stresses are added, which appear for personal and family reasons.
Retirement age
It is entered by men and women who are 60 and 55 years old respectively. Signs of aging are growing: the structure of the hair and skin is changing, the gait becomes different, the shape of the figure is changing. Retirement age is accompanied by a decrease in the mass of the heart and its frequency contractions. Blood vessels lose elasticity, a certain amount of blood is also lost. The respiratory system also changes. The chest, due to changes in the tendons and ossification of the ribs, ceases to be as mobile as before. And the lungs, accordingly, cannot cope with their task as before "briskly".
But, of course, it also depends on physiology. People can look great and feel great both at 65 and at 70. Again, lifestyle matters and how “tired” a person has been during his existence. The age categories of people by year is one thing. But how they feel psychologically is completely different.
Starship
This is the last period of life, it is allocated conditionally. It usually lasts from 75 to 90-100 years. But this is in our time. In general, age periodization is a strange and controversial topic, especially when it concerns people who are “over 35”.
Remember, at least, the end of the XIX century. Then people of 45-50 years old were considered to be deep old people, who should have retired already! And this is really inspiring in our time. It turns out that old age gradually “recedes”, and the duration of young agesconsequently increases.
