Depression: Older Adults

Hi, for the Salvation Army, this is Bernie Dake. And I'm Lori Miller. Thanks for joining us and welcome to Wonderful Words of Life.

Well, Bernie. Welcome back, Lori. We are in episode five of our series. It's your fifth episode. It's my fifth.

I can't believe it. I feel like we should throw a party or something. I think it's a good idea. In fact, there should be cake and cookies.

Yes, please. But we're going to celebrate this week because in the United States we recognized a day this week as Columbus Day. That's right. We sure do. One day I'll have to remember my high school history class so I can tell all of our listeners about Columbus Day.

You are exactly right. Or I could look it up in our national archives because I get to travel to Washington, D.C. this week with our choir or our songster brigade, as the Salvation Army calls it. Oh, how fun. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Aliada, if you see me out there, please say hello. We are in week five of our series on mental health and this began on September 15th. So if you've missed any episodes, subscribe to the show where you get your podcasts or visit salvationarmysoundcast.org to get caught up. This week we're discussing depression among older adults. Laurie, this is a very real situation. It is.

It's very real. I want our listeners to hear this. You are not alone.

That's right. You are not alone. In fact, the statistics are pretty scary when you think that an estimated 17.3 million adults in the U.S. have had a major depressive episode and more than a third of those have never received treatment. You know, we talk a lot about transition in life. There are certain stages in life that we go through that bring so many different challenges. And this one in particular among older adults is that depression. And it's the depression that comes with loss, either loss of independence, loss of those we loved. People are losing spouses and those important to them. They're losing their health in some way, their mobility, their independence. And so depression among the older adult population is very, very real.

Yeah, I don't even think of it. But what I want our listeners to hear is that basically if a third of those people have never received treatment, then one in three adults or older adults that you're looking at could be dealing with depression. So be empathetic. Be compassionate as you interact with those people.

And you know what? Get away from your phones. Take time and just be and be present with people. I think a lot of times just interaction with other people can often make us feel better. I agree.

And I think so many older people are on their own and maybe not, maybe they're being cared for in some sort of way. But as far as relationship and people really still pouring into them, that's really, really important. How has God brought you through a depressive episode or a mental health crisis? We'd love to hear your thoughts, prayers and comments on this series. And we'd love to hear your testimony as well.

Send us an email radio at uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965. Oh, Jesus, how I seek you. I need only you.

I am broken in your presence. I give it all to you. I give it all. I give it all. I give it all to you. My Lord, I give it all. I give it all. I give it all to you, my Lord. Holy Spirit, you surround me with overwhelming love. There is victory in your presence. I give it all to you. I give it all. I give it all to you, my Lord. We're talking in our new series about mental health, and we are joined by Aliada Dawkins from Washington, D.C. Now, this is a beautiful woman of God, and we are glad that you're here.

Thank you so much. You would not imagine, looking at her, that she's a mother of four and has been married for 19 years. She still has all of her hair, and she still smiles, which is great.

Yes. We've been talking about mental health. We've broken it down by age groups, and this week, for what we're calling part four, week five, we are going to talk about older adults, specifically depression in older adults. Depression in older adults. Now, I'm 49. Does that qualify me yet as an older adult, or do I still have a few more years?

It does. It qualifies you as an older adult. Sometimes we see depression, particularly in this age and phase, is we just brought it up. It's called the sandwich generation, meaning that the majority of those, they're raising their kids, but they're starting to have to also assume some care for either their spouse or a loved one or perhaps their parents.

So you have that added pressure of trying to not only maintain your house and your health, but also worry about the life of perhaps your loved one. In addition to that, while this age, you hit 40 and you say, oh, I'm free from societal pressures and things like that, it really starts to make you look at your life. I think those are some of the instances where the word midlife crisis or the term midlife crisis has come from, because now while you believe you're right in the middle of your life, have you worked hard enough, invested in the right way in terms of preparing for retirement? Am I further enough along in my career? I thought I would be leaps and bounds into my career or I really don't even like what I'm doing.

I really want to change. And so those are kind of depressive things that happen in that particular age range that we should be aware of. So depression in this particular phase of your life can come from just a decline in health, money, mobility, loss of job, loss of a marriage, and just the stress of trying to prepare and keep all of those things together in a nice little tight boat where no one knows what's really going on and that added pressure just continues to add up and add up.

And then now you have someone who might be battling depression, but also have all of these extenuating things that they need to take care of at the same time. I cannot fathom the idea of getting to now me a year away from 50 and regretting the past. I find strength in kind of looking forward, but I must admit I've had regret. There's things I wish I did or I wish I could have done, but it's okay for me to process that regret.

I can have those feelings, but looking forward is sort of a good thing. It's actually healthy for you to process if you have those regrets, because where you see regret, someone else sees success. And so just being able to have someone as a springboard to talk about where you think you should be or where you thought you should have been and just finding appreciation that you still have life and breath and that every experience has enhanced your life.

And you can share that experience with someone else, but it's those times when you are having those thoughts that I would have, could have, should have, or wish I had done it this way that you keep to yourself that just keep bringing your spirit down. And then before you know it, again, you're pulling yourself away from things. You're second-guessing what's been the most consistent thing in your life.

And so those are some of the instances that you should look at. It's very normal in this particular part of life, and I want to make sure that I clarify that. It's normal when you are having another life transition. You're moving from your 30s to your 40s, from your 40s to your 50, but we should see it as God has given you an opportunity to continue to have life.

There's still purpose there because He still left you here. You just might have a little bit more things to deal with. And so that's when you really should rely on your community, rely on your church, your friends, your support systems to just share because every person goes through those bouts where they think that they're not good enough, and you just have to change your thought process that I am good enough. This is part of aging and aging gracefully. And that depression doesn't have to be your final story.

It's just a part of your story. In the United States, we have a talk show host, a late-night talk show guy named Jimmy Fallon. And Jimmy was a comedian and an actor, and he's always so positive. You know, everything's so good.

You're so good. He's everybody's biggest fan. And while I think sometimes it's hard to believe that everybody is so good, what I do love is that he's a cheerleader. You need to have people in your life that can be cheerleaders for you.

And hopefully that's a spouse or a loved one, someone that you trust. And you can also teach yourself to be your own best cheerleader, whether it's a scripture or a positive thought. Anything you do for 21 days becomes a habit. And so just being able to say, you know, I love today, I love my life, and let it be the first things you say in the morning can really combat the chemical balances in your brain to help, you know, endorphins release, exercising during this phase of your life.

It can be really, really great to be able to help you. Now I better bring this episode to a close. She's starting to talk about exercise.

We'll probably focus on exercise in a later series if our producer will let us. This series we're talking about mental health, and I'm just afraid that she might make me get skinny again. It's okay. Listen, we are glad that you've joined us. I hope that you're hearing something that you can cling to if you're battling any kind of mental health, if you're feeling depressed, whether that's a momentary thing or a state of depression. We pray that you find help or find someone that you can talk to to help process this, and if you have a church home, that would be a good place to start. If you don't, the Salvation Army has many, many churches and communities that we serve, and the officers there who are pastors would be more than happy to either come alongside you or get you to someone that can help you. We're glad that you've joined us.

We hope that you'll come back next week to Wonderful Words of Life. The Salvation Army's mission, Doing the Most Good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit salvationarmyusa.org to offer your support, and we would love to hear from you. Email us at radio at uss.salvationarmy.org, call 1-800-229-9965, or write us at P.O.

Box 29972, Atlanta, Georgia, 30359. When you contact us, we'll send you our gift for this series. It's totally free for listeners like you, one per household while supplies last. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store, and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for Wonderful Words of Life. Follow us on social media for the latest episodes and extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home, we invite you to visit your local Salvation Army worship center. They'll be glad to see you. This is Bernie Dake inviting you to join us next time for the Salvation Army's Wonderful Words of Life. Thank you.