Senior citizens and their mental health: breaking the stigma
Mental health is a sensitive topic. It needs to be talked about more often in an educational manner. However, it’s still a taboo topic in most societies. To add to the trouble, senior citizens and their mental health issues are often neglected. Due to misinformation and stigma, elderly people usually go untreated.
Addressing mental health issues, especially in the case of older people, is the need of the hour. The senior citizens often feel more uncomfortable than the youth, to talk about their loneliness and sad hours. This is perceived as irritability and sometimes, even cognitive inability. While all that elder people need is extra love and care.
Tips to break stigmas around mental health
If you are a senior citizen or you know someone struggling to talk about their mental well-being, we have some tips and key points for them to feel like a warm hug in the form of words.
-
Acknowledge your feelings
Your good health needs to start with you. If you feel sad, lonely, or have some intense feelings, don’t ignore it. Check on yourself and see if certain events affect your daily chores or social life. Take time to question and understand how you feel about a certain situation before you discuss it with someone else. No, that doesn’t mean that you should analyze and attach each feeling to its true cause. All you need to do is accept it, without embarrassment or guilt. You can’t do anything with it until you acknowledge your feelings.
-
Do it scared, do it tired but do it
Chores, meeting people, engaging in hobbies – everything that you used to do before your feelings got the better of you. No, you’re not wrong in having intense emotions. And yes, you deserve a downtime. But, the best way to still feel worthy is to continue doing everything that you’ve been doing. Allow yourself to take a break but don’t allow yourself to quit.
-
Move your body
Depending on your mobility level, one of the most important things to do is to engage in physical activities. Be it playing a sport, morning/evening walk with pals or playing in the park with your grandkids, move your body. Fight with your brain. Get out of the bed and your house. Get some sunlight. Moving your body will have a profound effect on emotional well-being. Your mind will feel clearer.
-
Engage in social activities
Engaging in social activities is equally important. Since depression is linked to isolation, attacking the loneliness component of depression will be one of the best starters for getting rid of this disease. Surround yourself with your loved ones. Good social support will create a safe space for you to communicate your feelings. This way, breaking a stigma will become easier. You need to tell your people about how you feel.
-
Communicate
Friends, family, neighbours – everyone around you deserves to know how you feel. Be it their judgements or lack of support, let people hear your thoughts. Clear misunderstandings so that people understand where you’re coming from. You are not your illness. Your illness is just a small part of your being. You can’t let anyone make you feel bad about yourself. Stay strong and talk about how you feel.
-
Get the treatment you need
Don’t let the fear of judgement stop you from getting the right treatment. See a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Understand how your illness can be prevented from getting worse. Know how to feel better. Ask your therapist for grounding techniques. Learn to regulate your emotions. Your burdens are not yours alone to carry. You can take the help of a professional to help you pass through your traumas.
-
No blame games
Anxiety can often make you feel that you are a problem or that there’s something in you that needs to be fixed. Don’t let your anxiety lie to you. You are not a problem and there’s nothing wrong with you that needs to be fixed. Stay strong and positive. Anxiety is a normal body response to a threat, known or unknown. Anxiety, in other words, is there to protect you. Thus, in this process, you are not to be blamed. It’s not your fault that your feelings are too intense compared to the other people around you. It’s normal. Keep affirming that you’re fine.
-
Educate yourself and others around you
Mental health problems do not need to be hidden in the attic. Read books and blogs, watch videos, or listen to podcasts. Understand how human psychology works; this need not be textbook knowledge and you do not need to take exams. It will help you understand how trauma might affect your body and what steps you can take against it. Knowledge of other people’s experiences and hardships can encourage you towards recovery.
-
Find a support group
One other way to stave off loneliness is to seek out a support group. A support group is simply a gathering of approximately five to fifty people, usually occurring once a week or once a month, who are working their way through mental health issues. Everyone is free to talk about their issues and the others will listen quietly without judgement. Support groups can provide you with strength on the road toward recovery. The people around you act as evidence that it is normal to have problems with mental health. You also get to feel that you are not alone. You also have a place to show your sympathy to others around you.
-
Positive self-talk
Do not identify with your illness. For instance, in depression, you’d never say – “I am depressed,” you’d say – “I have depression.” Depression or any other mental health challenge does not become your identity. Positive self-talk ideas include: “I am worthy of love,” “I am proud of myself for getting out of bed today,” and more to help you start feeling good about yourself.
Conclusion
You, just like young people, share the same goal of living a happy and peaceful life. Don’t let people’s judgments rob you of your peace. Acknowledge your emotions. Be okay to be and feel vulnerable. Try seeing professional help and continue with what helps you. Be comfortable in being uncomfortable. Your sickness shouldn’t define your life. Educate yourself and let the world know the pain of undergoing mental health issues. Be strong. So you can be an inspiration to everyone else around you.
FAQs
1. How do I discuss my mental health with my kids and grandkids?
you might want to start with how you’ve been feeling in the last few days or weeks. Let them know that certain emotions or feelings have been affecting your daily routine. Draw comparisons from before so that it’s easier for them to understand what you’re trying to say.
2. When to seek professional help?
You can seek professional help as soon as you notice being disinterested in your daily life. Reducing social engagement is also a sign. Further, it’s most likely that the loved ones around you must have noticed changes in your mood, energy levels, etc. Please honour their feelings. They care for you. Seek therapy especially if they are insisting.
3. How do I educate myself about mental health?
There are many ways to educate yourself on mental health. Depending on whether you like to read or watch as a mode of learning, you can read books or blogs. You can watch feature films or documentaries based on how mental health ruled people’s lives and how they fought it. You can also listen to podcasts based on breaking stereotypes about mental health.
