Fighting the Winter Blues
The excitement of the holiday season is over now and the days are shorter and colder. Most of us dread this time of year as we layer on the extra clothing and battle the weather on the roads. How common is it for older adults to be feeling the blues this time of the year, or anytime? It’s very common. The Center for Disease Control, (CDC) reports that 20% or more of adults over the age of 50 have been diagnosed with a mental health concern such as depression or anxiety. The percentages go up the older we get too. None of us wants to feel badly, and the CDC also reports that those affected by depression and or anxiety also have a higher likelihood of being sick, have more emergency room visits, and take more medication.
How can we prevent depression and anxiety or alleviate it as we get older? There are 2 key factors in prevention and recovery.
Social and Emotional Support. Having family and friends that we can talk to regularly about how we’re feeling and share and ups and downs in life is very important. Being a part of a community of people we can connect with is incredibly helpful. Churches, community centers, gyms, libraries, senior centers all have opportunities to connect with people beyond our family.
Life Satisfaction is also key to good mental health. How we perceive our finances, our health, our surroundings is important to how satisfied we feel. Do we feel we have some control over these factors? Feeling like we have choices and the ability to make decisions is so important to feeling good emotionally.
Beyond the key factors, some simple ways for us to prevent depression and anxiety are, eating well, exercise and getting enough sleep at night. Most people need about 8 hours of sleep a night. The average night’s sleep for an adult in 2019 was around 5.5 hours/night. A good night’s sleep is a good way to take care of ourselves. Here’s to good emotional health for 2020!
