Analysis of Mental Health in Cyberspace Elderly Users

Physical, psychological and environmental disorders that people experience in old age facilitate the elderly's tendency to cyberspace and social networks. The purpose of this study is to analyze the mental health in cyberspace elderly users. The method of the present study is qualitative based on the Phenomenology. The population of the study included all men and women over 65 years from Tehran. Sampling method was purposive & chain sampling in which 6 elderly women and men were selected in order to participate in the study and interviewed as well as analyzed. All interviews were recorded and finally analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's systematic analysis method (1990). They took refuge in cyberspace to escape from these afflictions. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted. The analysis of the interviewees' statements resulted in identifying 19 open codes and five central codes (loneliness perception, elderly absurdity, unrealistic attitudes, wandering in life, and excitement immersion). These findings indicate the prevalence of a range of psychological disorders in the elderly, which revealed the need to pay attention to this dimension as well as the design of educational and treatment programs to reduce these disorders. The statements of the interviewees also indicated the fact that cyberspace and drowning in it were not the cause of these discomforts, but the group took refuge in cyberspace to escape from these discomforts.