People love to think that seniors are peaceful and content at all times. The reality is that they often have stress and anxiety about many of the situations they find themselves in after retirement. If this sounds like you then you can confirm that there is anxiety in abundance when you are dealing with many of the issues surrounding aging.
You probably were looking forward to relaxing during retirement and anxiety is instead deteriorating your quality of life. It could be caused because of how dependent you are on others, or that your mobility is reduced so you can’t do the things that you used to be able to do. Whatever the reason, there are ways to beat anxiety. In this article, we will go over what some of the common ways are to deal with anxiety as a senior.
1 – Take care of issues
The very first thing to do if you are feeling anxiety is to have your health addressed. Make an appointment to get a very thorough checkup done with your primary care physician and some specialists. Moreover, it’s crucial to also consider exploring options for intensive outpatient therapy, which can provide specialized and structured support to help you effectively manage your anxiety symptoms and improve your overall well-being. You should have things done like blood work that can identify what some of the issues are that you are dealing with. You could find that you have a cause for the symptoms that are causing you to feel sick and increasing your anxiety that you can now treat.Â
You should also look into getting your vision and hearing tested. Often, when seniors are confused by things going on around them it;s because they can’t see or hear well. By fixing those issues with a new eyeglass prescription or hearing aids will help you take some control of your life back and help to reduce anxiety.
Very often the reason for being overly dependent on others can be fixed by fixing the issues that are causing you to need to rely on others. When you can see better, hear better, and be able to take care of yourself then your anxiety will be reduced.
2 – Take some supplements
There are a lot of home remedies for anxiety and some of the best are supplements. They are usually made with natural ingredients to prevent you from getting hooked on pharmaceuticals. One of the most effective natural remedies is CBD oil as it has a soothing and calming effect on your mind.
It is widely mistaken for marijuana since it is derived from the hemp plant. CBD doesn’t have any THC which is the psychotropic chemical that causes people to get high off of marijuana so the effect is not the same. You don’t get high from CBD. CBD doesn’t even come from the same plant as it is derived from hemp seeds.
3 – Get plenty of sleep
One of the best remedies against anxiety is free and completely natural. It’s simply plenty of sleep. When you sleep your mind is able to put itself in a calm place and allows you to let go of some of the things stressing you out. When you don’t sleep enough then it is very easy to get stressed.
If you are having trouble sleeping then this is certainly contributing to your anxiety. The key is to work on your sleep hygiene to get back on track. After a few days of good sleep then you will start noticing a positive difference.
Try to make sure that 30 minutes before bed time you work on a sleep routine. The first thing to do is to shut off any of your devices so you aren’t tempted to look at them. Those devices are very disruptive and often are the reason you are having trouble falling asleep.
Then, take a warm bath to relax your muscles and start feeling sleepy. Turn down the lights in the bedroom so once you are done with the bath you can get ready for bed feeling relaxed and the lights will put you in a calm mood.
Avoid drinking alcohol or caffeine late in the day as this is also disruptive to your sleep routine.
4 – Use essential oils
Many herbs and spices have a high concentration of oils that can help us function in many ways. There are some that will allow your mind to clear and to calm you down so your anxiety is reduced. All you need to do is to smell some of them for a few minutes and they will go through your olfactory nerve right to the brain for almost instant relief.
The ones to focus on are lavender, valerian, chamomile, and ylang ylang. Take some of the oil and put it into a diffuser as an aromatherapy so when you feel anxiety coming on you can sit in the room and let the aroma fill it up with calming scents.
There are also things like bracelets and charms that you can wear so you can take a whiff at any time to keep calm even on the go.
5 – Talk it out
One of the reasons that so many seniors are going through life stressed out and anxiety ridden is because they bottle up a lot of their feelings. It is always good to talk to somebody about how you’re feeling and let it out. Keeping things inside allows them to fester and this can be very stressful. Very often when you talk out your problems you will find that there are solutions suggested that you simply needed to hear from others that now understand the problems that you’re having.
Try to find a friend or group of peers that you can talk to about your problems and have a very friendly ear or even shoulder to cry on. If you aren’t comfortable talking about these things with people that you know then getting a therapist is always a good idea. You can sit with one once or twice a week and they will give you the tools to deal with the problems that you are having.
