The invisibility of older adults has been made evident by the mass shootings that have occurred in recent weeks in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.
Contrary to what one might think —and what usually happens—, the mass shootings of recent weeks have not been perpetrated by young people but by older adults, which has baffled and worried not only communities but also experts, since up to now the exact reason that motivated them to carry out these acts of violence is unknown.
In the United States, older adults make up 12 percent of the population, yet they account for about 18 percent of suicides, according to the National Council on Aging, raising alarm bells about what could be happening to this segment of the population.
Older adults do not only suffer from physical health problems, as invisibility, lack of care and attention, and isolation are situations that some of them suffer on a daily basis.
"Is it strange that within our communities there are elderly people who have been rendered invisible, treated not even as human beings, who feel isolated?" questioned Helen Zia, a writer, journalist and activist in the Asian-American community, at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services where experts gathered to discuss the mass shootings that have occurred in recent weeks in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.
This question opens up different paths and spaces for reflection, as society must ask itself what is being done wrong with the elderly or whether it is doing enough for this group of the population that has been forgotten and marginalized for years.
Zia explained that, according to her book Last Boat out of Shanghai, most Asians in the United States are immigrants and that, in the case of older adults, they have suffered the pains of war, which brought with them traumatic situations, which have not been addressed because they think that "nobody is interested in listening to them."
"These are painful stories," he said.
In that regard, Brett Sevilla, medical director of the Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Center in Los Angeles, noted that older adults have gone through various traumas and stressful situations derived from wars that have not been treated and pointed out that "many of the older adults in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are dealing with post-traumatic stress from the wars and revolutions that forced them to escape as refugees 40 or 50 years ago."
Laura Som of the MAYE Center for Healing Survivors of Trauma, Systemic Racism, Oppression and Inequity said that Cambodian refugees — who are abundant in Long Beach — have experienced extreme violence and post-traumatic stress, which has deteriorated the mental health of the community, triggering in some cases hatred, violence, depression and anger.
This situation not only shows that there are older adults with untreated mental health problems, but also the need for communities to have therapists who address these issues and help and accompany them through the situations they face.
In her turn, Rita Medina, deputy director of state policies for the Coalition for Human Rights of Immigrants (CHIRLA), questioned several of the situations that older adults experience on a daily basis and pointed out that there are people who at 70 years old continue working in the fields when they should be enjoying their "golden years out of necessity."
In California alone, there are at least 17,000 undocumented seniors who do not have social security because they have not been able to fix their immigration status for more than 10 years.
"Some of them are alone here in this country, and their bodies are physically deteriorating because of the work they do," he said.
However, older adults are not only experiencing physical deterioration but also mental deterioration, and despite the seriousness of this, they have not received the necessary attention, since according to Brett Sevilla, the relatives of patients with mental health problems often consider it shameful.
In this regard, Linda Yoon, co-founder of Yellow Chair Collective, pointed out that older adults have the need to talk about the situations they have suffered, however they do not find the ideal spaces to do so with their families.
Yoon has cared for many of the elderly who have needed this support and said that "many end up crying because they feel ashamed of sharing something so intimate with someone as young as me, they have a lot of hidden traumas, isolation and loneliness."
The events of recent weeks have undoubtedly left society with work to do, namely, to fight against the invisibility of older adults, but they have also opened up a conversation on this topic. "For me, this is a sign that we are raising awareness, making progress, and reducing the stigma," concluded Sevilla.
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