Adult Depression: Is It Affecting Someone You Know?

To say the least, Covid-19 has turned our world upside down!

Regardless of our age, sex, race, religion, or political affiliation, we are all feeling the effects of this pandemic.

Isolation Quarantine Coronavirus Covid 19

Gone are the carefree days of being able to go do what we want without the fear of sickness to ourselves, our neighbors, and/or our elder loved ones.

Gone are the evening escapes to restaurants, movie theaters, and night clubs or bars with our friends.

Gone are the ability to have family vacations, “Sunday dinners” and church services.

Gone are the birthday parties, wedding celebrations, and funeral gatherings.

Gone are the bbq’s, musicals and music festivals, parades, county fairs, and amusement parks, zoo, or museum trips.

Gone are baseball, basketball, football, and other sporting events.

Gone are the ability to visit our aging loved ones — regardless of if they live independently or in assisted or skilled communities.

Gone is work/life balance.

Nascar no longer allows fans to attend to cheer from the stands….

Being an “essential worker” is a new term and concept.

Small and large businesses have had to begin remote workforces, the healthcare system has limited their services, and our economy has, unfortunately, been hard hit.

Many businesses have furloughed employees, reduced hours, modified service capacity, or permanently closed.

Schools and colleges are looking to revamp and/or cancel classes in the fall.

Division and civil unrest plague our nation as protesters take to the streets, national monuments are defaced or dismantled, and police departments are defunded.

Where and when does the chaos end?

Life (as we knew it) ended when the virus attacked our world. An unseen enemy, that is difficult to combat, has affected our very way of life, our health, and our hopes and dreams for the future. We have washed our hands, used hand sanitizer, sneezed into our elbows, social distanced, and now masked up in the effort to flatten the curve, while trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

The pain of the pandemic reality is almost unbearable. In the words of Sarah J. Maas, “If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it — to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger.” Each of us is trying to deal with the distress in our own way….

Depression is “a sign of the times” and becoming more prevalent — especially for the senior populous, nevertheless.

According to helpguide.org, “Depression can happen to any of us as we age, but there are ways to boost how you feel and make your senior years healthy and happy.”

We found the following link and feel it contains good information if you, or someone you know, is an older adult and are dealing with depression:

https://www.helpguide.org