Mental Well-being

I've advocated for years about the importance of positive, holistic aging practices for optimum health. A positive mindset is crucial for aging. It is linked to improved cognitive function, enhanced physical health, increased longevity, and boosts mental well-being.  Is this some catch phrase without a scientific basis? Does what we think honestly affect our health?

As we grow older, it is natural to reflect on the past. Memories can hold cherished moments and represent a record of our lives. They can bring joy, comfort, and meaning to us as we age. For many of us, nostalgia reconnects us to positive memories and past moments of happiness, giving us a sense of purpose and positivity. It can also offer a chance to see our life choices and our legacy.

How many of us find ourselves with racing thoughts, unable to focus, and see things clearly? When faced with a problem or a need to make a decision, is it difficult to see a clear solution or resolution? I fondly refer to it as “monkey brain.”  At times, I feel like my brain is going in different directions with racing thoughts and patterns. I struggle to clear my mind and stay focused on a single subject or idea.

Silver Chats talks about change often. This is due in part to unavoidable changes that come with aging. Our bodies change, our lifestyles change, and we are faced with loss. Along with these changes come mental challenges like depression, anxiety, dementia, substance abuse, and Alzheimer's disease. Our aging population is expected to grow dramatically over the next couple of decades, making recognition of mental illness associated with aging a priority. We need to discuss this issue with family, friends, the medical community, and social groups. Recognizing the signs, knowing where to go for help, and being aware are key to treatment.

It seems the catchphrase today is “mindfulness.” But what exactly is mindfulness, and what is a mindfulness practice? How can mindfulness help us as we age? I was reminded of this blog last week when I was evacuated due to a wildfire.

A topic of great concern as we age is our brain function. What we hear about most is dementia and Alzheimer’s disease because of their prevalence. But what happens to our brains as we age? As with other physical changes, our brains shrink, especially in the frontal cortex. What is the function of the frontal cortex? It’s part of the brain that affects our motor skills, judgment, abstract thinking, creativity, social appropriateness, emotions, personality, self-control, muscle control and movements, memory storage, and attention. That is an overwhelming list of brain-declining functions we may experience as we age. After 60, nearly everyone will experience a decline in their cognitive skills. I’m noticing subtle changes in my train of thought, forgetting where I place things and stumbling over words during conversations. What are cognitive skills? They are the parts of our brain that we use to think, pay attention, multitask, process information and memory. What exactly will we experience as our cognitive ability declines?

We all have times when we are down or feeling blue. These times are natural in life because not every day can be perfect. Sometimes, we experience a loss, suffer from a chronic illness, or worry. Sometimes, these episodes last a day and sometimes a few days. During these times, we may exhibit coping mechanisms like social withdrawal, oversleeping, or low energy. These are common reactions. However, if these feelings persist over several weeks, it may be depression.

Some call it a soul calling; others define it as finding meaning. How do you live and define a purposeful life? I pondered on this for some time when I retired. I knew I didn’t want to live the last one-third of my life as I had lived the first two-thirds. Like many people before retirement, my purpose in life was career and motherhood. I still find purpose as a mom, but now I am also a grandmother. Who was I if I no longer had children to raise and employees to manage? It took some time to answer that question and design a worthwhile life. But I have found my niche and discovered my purpose.

How do you look at your world? When you get up every morning, what are your immediate thoughts? Are you grateful to be alive, or do you dread the day? One area of mental well-being we can all work on is our mindset. What exactly is a mindset? Oxford Dictionary defines it as “the established set of attitudes held by someone.” Our mindset is something we can train.

Keeping our thoughts positive, focusing on the good, and practicing healthy habits are challenging at any age. When you add the element of aging into the mix, it becomes even harder. Simple tasks we performed easily, now take more time and effort. Activities that used to bring us joy, now are accompanied by physical discomfort and seem meaningless. Social isolation, inactivity, loss of interest, and focus are very common as we grow older. The habits we created throughout our lives no longer apply and the thought of changing is exhausting. Growing old happens to all of us. It is a time of guaranteed change. How we choose to address and navigate these changes makes the difference between balancing holistically or struggling.

Most of us are baby boomers. Our core values were built in a time of social change, economic prosperity, and the dawn of technology. We learned to have a strong work ethic, and many of us became “workaholics." We stand stoic in our beliefs of individualism and tradition. These characteristics have served us well in building our lives, but not so much as we age. Over the first two-thirds of our lives, we were busy maturing, acquiring an education, building careers, growing families, and accumulating things we thought were important to own. We were busy with life, and few of us gave much thought to growing older, except for that financial retirement plan. Most of the advice we received was in the form of securing a financial future; virtually no discussion revolved around the mental challenges accompanying the process called aging.