Aging and Depression are related to many aspects but lack of control are the main problem.
As children we are taught to control our behaviors, set goals, be independent, and take charge of our lives. During adulthood we succeed at jobs, mature, set goals, and adapt fairly well with changes. However, as aging adults, we begin to forget, muscles atrophy, and we begin to become more dependent on others. The world of our youth is changing and we are most likely having difficulty keeping up with the technological changes- smart phone, Alexa, smart television, ear buds, audiobooks, and more. In other cases, our health becomes complicated with stress and we are less resistant to diseases or conditions like heart disease, hypertension, vision, hearing, and other degenerative problems.
Today we have become socially isolated related to two years of pandemic, we see on the news the rise of domestic violence and terror, political disease, and world players threatening nuclear attacks. We withdraw in fear and seek safety. We have no control over the external threats. In fact the recent shooting of shoppers in stores like Walmart, or in Buffalo the Tops Market, even schools and churches are subject to shootings or other violence.
I am subject to these stressful internal and external pressures and tend to limit my outside contacts. I think it is possible to create an environment with control but it will take work. Make lists and spend time talking to others, talking to ourselves (to encourage and make affirmations to realize we can control things to a degree). Understanding how to construct the power we do have and accept the power of control outside our control, is an important piece of adapting in spite of changes. I was taking college courses to keep myself structured and in the past few years completed my Bachelors degree in nursing, my Masters degree in nursing educator, and working on another Bachelors in Psychology, but the financial aide about to cut off require halting the process. For weeks now, I have withdrawn and escaped reality becoming a “couch potato” and wallowing in the withdrawal of defeat. Today I have set to correct this situation, I have many things to be thankful for and have many advantages right here in my little world. I have two dogs who are unconditionally loving. I have artistic abilities and can use them to create with paints, with writing, and organizing my inner world. It is unacceptable to give in without even trying. With my background, my nursing knowledge, my sense of humor and empathy, I can control some of my life even at seventy-eight.
jjldee64 