World Mental Health Day – How is Your World of Mental Health?
October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and it seems to me to be a great time to focus on something that many older adults don’t pay much attention to . . . their own mental health. The World Federation of Mental Health (WFMH) started World Mental Health Day in 1948 so it has been around as long as I have, which makes it pretty old. Their theme this year is “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace,” which isn’t very relevant to many of us who are retired or semi-retired, so I’m taking some journalistic liberties and focusing on the mental health of older adults. The WFMH has highlighted mental health for seniors in quite a few earlier years, so it does give me some latitude to stray from this year’s theme.
When you’re as old as I am, you vividly remember when mental health was often not recognized as a viable reason for abnormal behavior. To be labeled as mentally ill was a definite stigma, and even the person who was affected would internalize their problems, often with disastrous results. If you were having issues, feeling depressed or anxious, you just said, “pull yourself up by the bootstraps”, “soldier up”, or “get back on the horse,” phrases that literally are antiquated but were dangerous because they were just ways to blame yourself for your poor mental health and put the task of working through your problems on you. This further stopped seniors from going outside of themselves and seeking help from their healthcare providers. I hope that we have become smart enough to recognize the symptoms of mental illness and to reach out to experts who can help.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has produced a list of symptoms that older people may experience which may indicate a mental disorder.
Noticeable changes in mood, energy level, or appetite
Feeling flat or having trouble feeling positive emotions
Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much
Difficulty concentrating, feeling restless, or on edge
Increased worry or feeling stressed
Anger, irritability, or aggressiveness
Ongoing headaches, digestive issues, or pain
Misuse of alcohol or drugs
Sadness or hopelessness
Thoughts of death or suicide or suicide attempts
Engaging in high-risk activities
Obsessive thinking or compulsive behavior
Thoughts or behaviors that interfere with work, family, or social life
Engaging in thinking or behavior that is concerning to others
Seeing, hearing, and feeling things that other people do not see, hear, or feel
That’s a big list and I went through it to see if any applied to me. I found myself trying to decide if they were symptoms of poor mental health or just the result of getting older. For instance, I certainly have noticed a change in my energy level, I don’t sleep as well, I sometimes have digestive issues, I try not to be irritable but fail sometimes. The good news, if that’s what you can call it, is that many of my colleagues suffer the same things, so it’s most likely not an indicator of a mental disorder - just of age. The bad news is that I also know friends who have some of the symptoms listed above who do suffer from a mental health issue. The NIH capsulated the dilemma for seniors in one paragraph –
As people age, they may experience certain life changes that impact their mental health, such as coping with a serious illness or losing a loved one. Although many people will adjust to these life changes, some may experience feelings of grief, social isolation, or loneliness. When these feelings persist, they can lead to mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety.
I can see where depression and anxiety can creep into your life. Me and many of my friends have talked about the lack of purpose that accompanied retirement. We felt like we had no direction. We all worked at finding some way we could feel like we were still valued members of society. Sometimes financial worries or worries that we would become a burden to others caused us to be anxious.
This brings me to something about which I haven’t seen much written, but I believe is a cause of anxiety in many older adults - the fear of developing Alzheimer’s. I think this is a common worry and a cause of anxiety in a large number of seniors. I’m quite certain that every older adult has had some encounter with Alzheimer’s. I’ve personally looked into the eyes of a close friend and saw an uncomprehending stare that didn’t recognize me and had no acquaintance with the person she used to be. We get fearful every time we walk into a room and can’t remember why went in there, every time we can’t remember a word that used to be part of our vocabulary, but we can’t pull it out of our brain. When we hear people talk about someone who is “losing it” we wonder if they talk about us in that context. We can’t stand the thought of becoming a burden to our spouse or our kids. We are constantly evaluating our cognitive health. I think this is a cause of a great deal of anxiety and even depression in seniors, and we are not encouraged by the lack of progress in finding a cure or even more efficient ways to slow its progress. There are only three treatments that have an impact on slowing the functional decline of Alzheimer’s, and one of them is not going to be available starting next month. I just hope the controversy over that medicine’s approval and implementation doesn’t slow down the research into medicines to combat or cure Alzheimer’s.
Mental health is a very important part of our life. We need to be cognizant of the symptoms and be ready to seek help if it’s indicated. We don’t have to go it alone, there are ways to overcome depression and anxiety if we recognize there is a need and seek the help that is available. There are ways that can help keep our world mentally healthy.
Best, Thair