Aging Smart & Wise: Mental Health Tips For Those Growing Older.
In the last decade, you have most likely heard the subject of ‘mental health’ approached with ever increasing interest and importance. This is largely a very healthy endeavor. Society is starting to realize that previous attitudes of ignoring people and their emotional needs is a dangerous game to play, and instead fostering a healthy attitude and employing tips to help overcome these issues can be the best thing to improve someone’s mental comfort. While we all have different personalities, different tastes and desires, the baseline of mental health can be pretty commonly understood.
Obviously, what works for one person may not work at all for another, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the same baseline. To call yourself mentally ‘healthy,’ a few requirements must be met. Note, mental health issues do not necessarily translate into personality flaws. It can be hard to draw the distinction, but it’s worth knowing. For example, a lack of ambition to exercise might simply mean that you’re untrained, lazy, fearful of heading out or worried about irritating an old injury. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have depression, which is a malady people are all too quick to self-diagnose themselves with in the modern day. In order to take a rational, wise and respectful attitude to optimizing your mental health, it’s important to know a few tips to keep yourself maintained, especially as you age.
1 in 3 people will experience some form of mental illness during their lifetime, and this probability only increases between the ages of 35 – 45. Luckily, there are many ways that you can overcome these issues. We’d like to preface that if you feel you are experiencing mental difficulty over and above what a simple health guide can give you, you should absolutely consult your healthcare professional immediately, and be candid with them about everything you experience and take their advice to heart. It might be that using Cigna healthcare coverage to get you the best help regarding addiction or mental health issues would be best, as these services are often specialized and understanding of mental needs across the whole spectrum of difficulty.
However, to help you crafting the conditions that can spur on a mental illness such as depression or worse, use the following tips to help you.
Exercise
More and more scientific literature is being published on the mind/body connection, and how intrinsically linked they are. The functions of our body are even more complex and interconnected than we know, and as a result it’s important to take the matter seriously. As we get older, it’s easy to rest on our laurels and take a back seat when it comes to the issue of exercise. This might be done out of a desire to relax, stay comfortable, or simply give ourselves more free time in our already busy schedules. However, exercise is one of those endeavors which can drastically improve the quality of your life in this body.
However, some of this fault lies in the motivational videos, speeches and inspirational talks that occupy much of the modern ‘self-help’ discussion. These pieces of advice often use the fact that tyrannizing yourself when you don’t want to do something is the best way to force yourself to do it. This might work for some people, and it can surely help you out of a rut, but it is not sustainable long term. Instead, using a negotiating approach to pushing forward with your goals can help you repeatedly. Exercise is as much of a spiritual pursuit as prayer is. It helps you develop authority over your being. It helps you subject your body to the much-needed stress it cries out for the stay dynamic and active in the world. It helps you expand the cognitive limits of your comfort zone, giving you the mental fortitude necessary to overcome the very many challenges of life. This would make the matter worth it enough, let alone the fact that it will help you feel much better and able in your daily life. The de-facto way to combat depression, anxiety, fearful complexes and even dissociative disorders is to fully integrate into a challenge in your life, and there’s perhaps no better way to achieve this than through regular exercise, especially as you get older.
Purpose
More and more people are beginning to understand the benefits of having a purpose, especially with the younger generation. While the ability to relax and avoid bringing your own sustenance through purely rugged physical means is here and with us in the modern century, that, unfortunately, brings us a lack of purpose which we need to stay oriented in the world. People who lack a purpose often disintegrate mentally and become less than what they were. We always need to search for something and carry a load, no matter how you define that to yourself. It could be painting, taking up new skills, writing a novel or simply getting the accounts perfect at the firm you’re proud to be working with. Your purpose needs to be generated by your own desires, wants, and interests, and in that case it is intrinsically personal and will imbue your life with an overwhelming sense of meaning. As we age, we tend to lose that focus, often because we have worked for decades and feel as though we have already contributed our best to the life situation we find ourselves in.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, if you look at the problem wrong, you will find that this challenge and call to purpose will never leave you. This affords you fantastic opportunities to stay relevant, dynamic and interested in the world around you. A sad tale of many people experiencing retirement is that they fail to keep active. Smart elderly folks will always have a progressive hobby or job on the go, such as volunteering at a local animal shelter, or something else which they have the physical ability to do. This keeps you embedded in a routine, and helps you stay perceptive. This will help you stay active at a time you need it most.
Building the correct habits as you age becomes more and more vital as you progress. They will help adjust every consideration in your life around them as an orbit, and so will help your life transfer from lethargic chaos to interested order. As you age, there is nothing more important than that for your daily satisfaction and happiness, even if it does require a little effort.
Staying on top of these tips can help you feel connected and grounded in the world around you. Good luck!
Loved that article
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A lot of good advice for any age to follow
These are great tips. It is so important for men to have regular checkups. I know from my own family experience that it is hard to get guys to go. Ugh.
Don’t push ppl away and be alone,just gets worse
very informative
I think one of the most important things to do is make sure you don’t get stuck in a strict routine for too long. Older folks sometimes follow the same daily routine for years and I have read that can be damaging to the brain.
Great advice! Thank for the tips.
Thank you for posting this article. I’m a huge advocate of mental health for all ages. Great tips.
I play Sudoku all the time.
It is good advice. My grandparents did crosswords, soduko and more and they were sharp all the way to the end.
thanks for the tips
I think society today is more aware of the importance of mental health. It is a subject that is openly discussed not hidden away like it used to be.
Im retired and still active but these were good reminders against the fails of age !
I have to write down everything
I learned that even with teenagers, you have to be careful with what you say!
For example: my happy go lucky teenage granddaughter all of a sudden started sleeping a lot and her grades in school started slipping!
She stopped talking and smiling! Then one day (& I thank God for this all the time!), her friend said that My granddaughter called her and sounded groggy and told her goodbye.
Well her friend did not like this and ran to my granddaughter’s house and told someone to go check on her right away! This girl was an angel for our family, because my granddaughter was passed out with pill bottles on the floor! Well needless to say, the hospital pumped her stomach and she was transferred to Lorie’s hospital for children. She was in there for 5 months! Plus they put her on antidepressants. That took a while, because they had to regulate one that works. I thank God and her friend all the time! So depression is a live and attacks people of all ages! Unfortunately I read more and more lately about murder/suicides! It is so sad!!
I am on an antidepressant! I am 61 years old and I swear there are times, I feel that I don’t have a brain! Especially after my cancer treatments! So I not only have own age, but I have chemo brain! This is fun!! God Bless everyone!! Plus us “old” people have to stick together! TY for this review!
Looks like good advice.
Thank you for your great tips. They are very helpful.
pen and paper always work for me if I can remember where I left them
Wow! All these are such good points. Thanks for sharing.
I definitely have trouble with the memory part.Good article.I have experienced severe depression and anxiety after the death of my 2 sons.So I strive everyday to keep my life calm and focus on things that make me happy!
Good information.
What a very interesting and relevant post. 1 in 3 people will experience some form of mental illness during their lifetime….this fact amazed me and then it was added that it could get worse between ages 35-45. It just hits home!
Great information. I think keeping active either through structured exercise or just o your own is great. One of the biggies is doing some sort of weights. The older you get the more you lose mass. I am older myself, and have learned this !
I’ve experienced depression in my life. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. It’s horrible. Thanks for the tips.
I’m so thankful that we are able to start having conversations about our mental health. It doesn’t matter what you struggle with mental health issues have always been hard to discuss. Thank You for the tips.
I’ve had depression for most of my life. It’s really hard some days. And it seems like it gets somewhat harder the older I get.
For some people growing old is not just a health problem, but can create psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.
I’ll have to remember these! 😉 🙂
i would like to keep me going i have issues and then we try to walk alot and then
the dog want to keep me going
This has been an issue in my family for years. Research and knowledge are very important. communication is also very important.
I was suprised to hear that 1 in 3 people will experience some form of mental illness during their lifetime
My mother in law is 87 and has better memory than I do! She does daily word games to keep her mind active.
These are some great tips for everyone to follow!
The state of my mental health has always been a concern of mine, if not as big a concern as it is for everyone around me.
These are great tips to keep your mind fresh and help from stress, anxiety and so many mental problems.
Thank you for sharing. Important info
Out of all these, purpose is prob number one.
You know, I used to have an amazing memory. Not so much now, lol. This is a necessary article!
Very good post. It is so important to take care of our mental health as much as our physical health. And as we age it is even more important. It is suggested if you do puzzles, play games, and keep your mind stimulated you will feel much better.
Good to know. Thank you!
Great ideas. I am the mother of a 25 year old daughter who has severe Panic Disorder and Autism. She is very misunderstood by many family and friends.
This article is great. I am one of those aging people at 65. I really appreciate all these suggestions. Thank you God Bless
This makes a lot of sense and I think having purpose to your days is the most important tip here.
Great tips.. .getting older every day!
I’m looking forward to the older slow down days. Great post, thanks for sharing.
Sounds like good common sense to me!
LOL! I should have read this post 10 years ago. Good info!