Retirement and mental health: a literature review

Abstract

Since life expectation has increased, observed in the global and Brazilian context, it is expected an increasing number of retirements, and also an incensement of the time for the population to remain in retirement condition. On the other hand, the contemporary society appreciates the bounds with the current production system, assigning a central position to labor. Thus, the relation between the unbinding of professional activities and mental health becomes a relevant study subject. This investigation aimed to perform a bibliographic review on the subject retirement and mental health, comprised between 2006 and 2011, from articles and academic works published in the main national and international databases. A number of 1797 publications were found. After a filtering process based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 publications were analyzed, according to the type of study and addressed topic. The findings were grouped into the following categories: 1) Life quality and satisfaction with retirement; 2) Preparing to retire; 3) Expectations and perspectives towards retirement; 4) Aging; and 5) Consequences of retirement for the health. Quantitative studies prevailed and the thematic “consequences of retirement for the health” was the most studied in the international literature, providing a greater understanding of this relation.