title: On letting go: with age comes renunciation.
abstract: The writer uses the example of parting with a beloved sailboat to highlight the accumulating losses that come with advancing years. They necessitate interpersonal and narcissistic readjustments in one's relationships, occupations, avocations, and especially physical and mental sense of self. The psychological defense mechanism of denial has its uses and its limitations. The process of mourning is inevitable. Its resolution may bring with it surprising new opportunities and satisfactions. Religion or its absence may play important roles. The culmination of the narcissistic line of development in wisdom, humor, and creativity may facilitate adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Norman A. Clemens, MD, is Emeritus Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center.
authors.forename: Norman A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Clemens
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D009289:Narcissism; D012767:Ships