Roundtable #6: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in the Second Half of Life - Moderated by Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP

Panelists: Willard Ashley, MDiv, DMIN, DH, REv, SCP, NCPsyA, CGP; Nancy McWilliams, PhD; Robert Waldinger, MD

Erik Erikson outlined specific tasks associated with developmental stages across the life cycle. In Erikson’s model generativity, stagnation, ego integrity, and despair are all potential aspects of development in the second half of life. Aging brings a crisis and an opportunity to revisit and psychically rework all of Erikson’s eight stages. In this panel, three experts will examine the mental health challenges in the second half of life including: loneliness and the importance of relationships, loss of physical and cognitive capacities and adaptations to these changes, and spiritual concerns related to meaning, purpose, and approaching the end of life. A crisis may emerge when physical and cognitive health declines, when stigma increases isolation, and when persistent economic and healthcare disparities threaten the social safety net. Our three panelists will discuss these issues and ways to address mental health in later life.