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Vishal
Admin
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 92
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2007 00:29
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Not everyone is able to afford to take a dream vacation, or is lucky enough to be without illness, or still have those they love as part of their life after they retire. For this reason, many seniors are faced with stressful situations that they often feel they have no control over.
These stresses may include:
Retirement and the extreme change of lifestyle
Financial problems
Decrease in physical capabilities
Being diagnosed with a chronic, life-threatening or terminal illness
Caring for an ailing loved one
Death of a loved one
Worrying that your children will place you in a seniors or nursing home.
Being a burden on others
Stress can be dangerous if you don't find ways to control and alleviate it. For instance, chronic stress can boost the risk of high blood pressure, sleep disorders, digestive problems, stroke and heart disease. Seniors are already at higher risk for these conditions, which makes chronic stress all the more serious. Therefore, seniors need to find stress relief by positively taking charge of their lifestyle.
Here are some excellent stress relief tips for seniors:
Improve your diet Your body needs necessary nutrients in order to maintain good health and function properly. Are you getting enough of all the vital nutrients you need for your age? If you're not sure, check with your doctor.
Exercise Sore joints and aching muscles is no excuse to stop exercising. Start going for a walk with your partner or friend every night, swim, join a fitness class, or get involved in a new activity. There are many ways for you to stay in shape. Exercise helps improve circulation, boosts energy, and keeps your muscles, joints and bones strong. Just remember to not push yourself to hard. Know what you can and cannot do.
Socialize make a point to get together with old friends and family as often as you can. If this is not a possibility, make new friends by joining clubs or taking part in events for seniors. Talking with others - especially those who can empathize with your situation - is excellent stress therapy.
Say no to substance abuse many people, who feel stressed, try to take the easy road by drowning their sorrows in alcohol, smoking, and other drugs. This "therapy" does not work. It makes you feel better for a short time only to make you feel worse after. Furthermore, you put your health at an even greater risk for disease.
Share your love with others Lack of responsibility can make us feel useless. Thus, if others are too busy for you, put your need for caring to good use and share it with others by volunteering for charities or other non-profit organizations in your community. You may also want to consider owning a pet. Animals provide great company, and are even considered to be therapeutic particularly in the case of dogs.
Love who you are You're not getting any younger, so you might as well enjoy living instead of wasting your life away on mourning for your youth, or worrying about your future. Be happy with everything you have accomplished in your life, and learn to laugh. Laughter releases stress.
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Dr_Broadland
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Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2007 10:47
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Stress and Seniors:
Seniors form an increasing segment of our population. There is a misconception that taking care of the financial needs of the seniors is the most important help you can give. Nothing can be further from truth.
Governments in the more affluent countries do take care of the seniors, in terms of housing and medical care, but often the personal human touch is not there. Seniors are dragged away from their homes or from being near their loved ones because of the rigid plutocracy they have to deal with.
While certainly there have been enormous strides towards looking after the seniors, there is much more needed if one is to prevent chronic stress and/or profound intractable depression from taking over the psyche of the senior citizen.
The approach in the not-so-affluent countries of children looking after the seniors is also getting tremendous buffeting from financial and urban pressures. Oh! for the good old days when I retire!
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TajviRAC
Member
Joined: 7 Apr 2008
Posts: 80
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2008 09:37
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Hello All,
It is indeed an important fact that, though stress could be a problem for all of us, form all ages; we are not much anxious about the senior citizens who might have a stressed life yet can't share it with anyone.
Actually it's upto us, the next generation, to think about the elders also.
Taj
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Dr_Broadland
Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
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# Posted: 25 Apr 2008 14:28
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The result of neglect of seniors and the psychological trauma associated with it is too enormous to ignore. It is with great sadness that I see around me (in western society) many an Indian immigrant family where the seniors are constantly and deliberately neglected - not physically but in their emotional and social and religious needs.
I, for one, have stopped feeling proud of my Indian heritage when it comes to talking about care of the elderly. I see abuse and neglect daily. It is just too sad.
There are too many examples. Seniors denying their need to visit socially or to visit the temple or church or mosque, because there is nobody available to drive them to the destination. And even when there is a drive available, they are left to their own devices drop them and pick them up is the accepted behaviour amongst the younger generation without realizing that the senior is looking for participation as well, not every day but perhaps once or twice a year.
Sending the senior parents on a prepaid holiday might be nice gesture, but if it is followed a few weeks later by the younger generation doing the same trip on their own, one cannot but feel the anguish of the parents who could not participate in the full joy of a trip with their children and grandchildren.
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CoolNcalm
Member
Joined: 2 Apr 2008
Posts: 45
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2008 01:18
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I would have to guess that this is a big part of the reason that so many seniors suffer from depression. I didn't understand the figures that I was seeing, but this makes a lot of sense, I would hate to live like that.
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Dr_Broadland
Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
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# Posted: 27 Apr 2008 19:52
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The statistics are alarming enough. In Canada there is more Government awareness.
In India seniors abuse is on a dramatic increase. And I am not talking about newspapers reports. I am talking about stories within near neighbours, extended families, friends' families, etc.
I did not expect that within a little over a generation period, the society would change so dramatically toward seniors abuse and seniors neglect. I do not want to keep there two terms as very different. Neglect is abuse. At present, in India, it is the courts left with the task of correcting abuse and punishing. There is as yet no direct Givernemtn action to prevent it.
In Canada, there are associations and ngos where a senior can turn for help and a miscreant can be corrected before the matter has t go to court.
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StressedOut
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Joined: 3 Apr 2008
Posts: 25
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# Posted: 28 Apr 2008 11:11
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I feel so bad for seniors and the rising abusive and neglectful nature of nursing homes don't help either, do they? My grandmother, who lives with us, was very stressed last month because she believed that we were going to make her go to the local nursing home. It got so bad that she had nightmares which didn't go away until we found out what was going on and explained to her that we would never take her there
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Dr_Broadland
Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2008 12:34
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Quoting: StressedOut ....... nursing homes don't help either, do they? My grandmother, who lives with us, ...... she had nightmares which didn't go away until we found out what was going on and explained to her that we would never take her there
In a lifetime of advising and deciding who to recommend for nursing home, what has been uppermost in my mind is the fact, as observed by me, that the incidence of death within a short time of transfer (to Nursing Home), is a reality I always had to consider and hope that this (death) will not happen in a particular case where necessity required me to recommend a Nursing Home. I always attempted to ignore the views of the family if they were pro Nursing Home and instead decided on the absolute need of care that could or not be had within the person's home or family surroundings. For me, the worst part was to have to follow up in the Nursing Home.
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TajviRAC
Member
Joined: 7 Apr 2008
Posts: 80
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# Posted: 6 May 2008 12:40
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I think when people get older; they need the family more than ever before. It’s like the natural cycle; the infant is completely dependant on the family, so is the old.
Much of the stress of the senior citizens could be removed only if we could allow them to stay with their family, pass more time with the family members.
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Dr_Broadland
Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
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# Posted: 7 May 2008 10:26
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More families should realise that.
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