Stress Management Is Crucial For Happy Aging

Backdrop:

Technically stress is defined as a natural response to an external stimulus through a challenging or demanding situation or stimuli. Usually, whenever the stimulus is unpredictable, unwanted, or undesirable, the mind gets jittery or nervous while responding. This creates stress in the mind of the individual. Stress is inevitable in an individual’s life journey; however, if one is not able to manage stress properly, it might lead to serious issues, both in terms of physical as well as mental health. Managing stress is, therefore, a critical skill an individual must learn to be happy in life.

Special Relevance for the Elderly:

Elders as a group are especially susceptible to stressful situations.  Because of “age factor”, majority of them are already physically and mentally not strong with risk-taking ability being on the lower side. Any adverse stimulus may have a significant impact on their thought process. Imagine a negative medical test result of self or news of death of a close friend or even simpler issues like mobile not working or a critical medical drug being out of stock, all such instances may cause a genuine issue of mental pressure and result in serious stress. The issue becomes more serious for those elderly who are single and living alone. They do not know how to solve the issue; they have no one to fall back upon and this sense of “helplessness” itself causes increase in stress level.

Elders, as a group, are thus most vulnerable from the perspective of stress and there appears to be few solutions. In a self-driven world where all are moving in different directions with their own motives, the solution lies within. This means that the elderly must find out their own stress-mitigating strategies.  

Strategies to Manage Stress:

As mentioned earlier, elders must take care of their own destiny in terms of managing stress and external help should be a last resort. Some of the practical strategies often recommended are as under:

Develop a Strong Mental Resolve: This is the starting point but extremely crucial. “Come what may, I shall not feel exhausted” should be the type of mental resolve one should develop. It is extremely necessary for an elderly person, as the world is ruthless, and it is he / she only that must take care of himself / herself. Developing mental set up like the above is not an easy task; it is a difficult and arduous one. But one should know that is the only way. The earlier we learn to develop this mental resolve, the better it will be for us. It will help us to foster mental strength, face the toughness of life and move ahead despite odds and failures. This resolve can help develop what is known as “positive attitude” to face turmoil of life.

Keep the Mind Busy: Many problems arise in old age as we have nothing to do, and our mind is deliberately kept idle so that it becomes the springboard of negative ideas / thoughts. The best way forward for the elderly is to keep their minds busy and engaged. The methodology can be different for different people: do what you want to but keep your mind busy. You may play, paint, move around aimlessly, visit a temple, teach the needy students, read books what you like, and so may others: do something so that your mind is kept busy. Once this practice is developed, it becomes a habit and the mind is always occupied and therefore, smaller problems start appearing even smaller and automatically stress level comes down.

Start the Day Happily: This is extremely crucial; if the start is good, rest will be better. We see many people doing on-line yoga or walking along with a walking group in the early morning; these activities release all the happy hormones like dopamine or serotonin and mind becomes fresh. Research often shows that these practices of doing a good thing in the morning try to keep the mind agile and happy even as the day passes.

Never Be Lonely: This is one more important strategy in the path of stress management. It is always advisable that you remain connected and be with others. Loneliness is not a preferred option for elderly people. Here “connectedness” does not necessarily mean being with people alone; you may be in touch with nature or pets or even with yourself as well. The idea is that being together with someone keeps the mind occupied and prevents stray negative thoughts that can generate unnecessary stress.

Consult a Specialist: And the last point is that in case you feel subdued and anxiety over a period and you find it difficult to tackle, it is time you consult a specialist. There is no shame in it as the specialist is nothing, but a “specialized doctor” who would help you with counseling and medicine, if necessary. Though this is the last step, this might be needed some time.

Conclusions:

Stress is a reality in today’s world and we as elders need to be ready to face it and manage within our given limitations. Life will have its ups and downs and many of the downs will result in stress. There is no way we can eliminate them; we need to anticipate, be proactive and manage with the tools in our hand. It alone can result in happy aging.

By Dr A K Sen Gupta, Chief Trustee, My Retired Life Foundation (MRLF). He may be contacted at aksengupta51@gmail.com and / or 98211 28103. 

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