Stock Photo By Melissa Mortimer *All names have been changed When Steve was in his mid-50s, he was struggling to deal with the death of his father and battling with his siblings over the estate. His sleep was badly affected by the stress, and he found that having a few drinks after work and before […]
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LAUGHTER: Truly the Best Medicine for Seniors of all Ages
Stock Photo By Carole Fawcett I’m 75, and humour, laughter, giggles, and guffaws are interwoven in almost everything I do. When I had repeat surgery on my legs/hips, I taped a note along the original incision line before going into the operating room. It read, ‘Please cut along dotted line’. I was not awake to […]
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SENIORS’ SUICIDE: The Loss of a Great Son, Husband, Father, Brother, & Newspaperman
By Kevin Mitchell From the outside looking in, Glenn Mitchell had it all. A wife and two grown sons, a house overlooking Okanagan Lake, and scores of family members and friends who adored him, including me… his older brother. So then, why did he drive to a local park, walk around for several hours, and […]
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PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: A Senior Copes with Mental Health Impacts of Amputation
Stock Photo By Cara Brady & Katherine Mortimer “What was the point of me being here?” She doesn’t know what will happen tomorrow, but Sally G is determined to make the best of what happens today. “I wish more people knew that the way it is today is not the way it’s always going to […]
Continue readingSARAH’S STORY: The Mental Health Challenges of Unhoused Seniors
Stock Photo By Carole Fawcett Our expectations can sometimes trip us up. Sitting across from me was Sarah (not her real name), a petite and feisty senior with her nails and hair done and make-up on. While looking like a fashionista, she’d actually been homeless for 14 months and had lived on and off in […]
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COMPLEX CHRONIC DISEASES: A Senior Finds Beauty in Brokenness
Stock Photo By Cara Brady “I didn’t want to be a bother to anyone.” Sarah knew ‘complex chronic illness’ (also called complex chronic diseases) before she knew it had a name. There has been despair at living with no diagnosis, fear that it might somehow be her own fault, and disappointment with various treatments. […]
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ELDER ABUSE: The Crushing Costs of Financial Exploitation
By Melissa Mortimer *All names have been changed When Mark’s widowed father, Tony, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he wanted to do all he could to help. With 80-year-old Tony in Toronto, and him in Calgary, Mark relied on his sister to be the point of contact. Until then, Tony had been spending winters in […]
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MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH: The Men’s Shed Way
By Kevin Mitchell Upon entry, you find a slick-looking lounge and a big-screen TV, followed by the gateway to a 3,200-square-foot workshop containing an array of wood and metal working “drool tools.” And that’s just the hands-on part of Men’s Shed Vernon’s passion for building meaning and well-being into men’s lives by engaging hands, hearts, […]
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THE JOY OF MENTORING: Seniors Giving Back in a Big Way
by Melissa Mortimer *Check out discussion questions after article At the age of 60, with more than 30 years as a sustainability outreach and engagement specialist behind her, Jo de Vries sometimes felt old, irrelevant, and invisible. “Many of my colleagues were in their 20s and 30s, and some seemed uninterested in listening to my […]
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THAT LAST 10 POUNDS: A Senior’s Story of Health After Disordered Eating
Stock Photo By Cara Brady *Check out discussion questions after article “Trapped in a lifestyle I knew was unhealthy and unsustainable” Helen (not her real name) shakes her head when she remembers the years when disordered eating was a part of her daily life. “I’m just sorry it took me 62 years to understand how […]
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DEPRESSION & SUICIDE: One Senior’s Journey From Hell to Healing
Stock Photo By Kevin Mitchell *Check out discussion questions after article My first and only attempt at suicide didn’t go well. I swallowed a handful of sleeping pills and took two or three gulps of whisky before lying on my bed waiting to join the abyss. Nothing happened. I was a failure. Shortly after, my […]
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SENIORS’ DEPRESSION: A Retired Teacher Shares Invaluable Lessons Learned
Stock Photo By Cara Brady *Check out discussion questions after article Recognizing the Signs Life was good for Paula (not her real name) the year she turned 50. She was happily married, proud of her son, and loved her work as a teacher. She enjoyed spending time with family members and her many friends. She […]
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‘MIND’ING NATURE: Cultivating Childhood Wellness Outdoors
SUMMARY People have become less connected to nature, particularly with increasing urbanization. However, many studies are now clearly demonstrating that nature connectedness is crucial to our physical and mental health, and to the future of our communities’ social, cultural, environmental, and economic well-being. Audrey Hystad, farm manager for the Clubhouse Farm in Kelowna, BC and […]
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LONELINESS: A Student’s Experience Abroad
Stock Photo Loneliness. I attempted to push it down when I first moved to Canada, whispering a sad goodbye as the people I’d known since birth disappeared behind airport lines. I tried to stop the tears, but instead shed thousands. For days on end, I relived fond memories in an attempt to fill the growing […]
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THE CHOKING GAME: A Growing Threat to Teen Mental Health & Survival
Stock Photo Have you ever done something you regret? Or experienced a time where you had your own life in your hands, and took a gamble? If you have, then you can undoubtedly relate to this… a story of courage and vulnerability from my friend Justin about his encounter with the choking game. “Pressure got […]
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NATURE’S PLAN: Using Natural Frameworks to Build Mentally Healthy Communities
SUMMARY Creating mentally healthy communities is becoming an issue of increasing importance. Dr. Marilyn Hamilton, an author and international thought leader, and Mark Holland, an author and award-winning community planner, discuss how we can use what we know about nature to plan, design, and build more livable, socially connected, and mentally healthy communities. They also […]
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PERFECTIONISM: It’s not Always the Villain
It’s 10:00 pm and Angela’s eyelids are drooping, but she’s still at the office working on a presentation for the following morning. Back at home, Caleb protests as his dad closes his son’s computer and tells him his project is good enough. It’s time for bed. Whether you’re a professional or a student, you’ve been […]
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FROM KENYA TO CANADA: An Immigrant’s Take on Comparative Happiness
Things that make me happy include a hot cup of tea on a rainy Vancouver Sunday morning, a day out with my friends at Stanley Park, or even a simple walk along Kitsilano beach. Having immigrated to Canada in 2019 to pursue higher education in psychology, I’m thankful for these simple pleasures and the mental […]
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ECO-GRIEF: Youth Bearing the Brunt of Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change
Imagine waking up on a summer day. You’re getting out of bed to then see a red-colored sun and orange sky outside. Sticking your head out the window, you see nearby wilderness catching fire, moving from tree to tree like a dancing plague. Tears gush from your eyes almost instantly. Smoke fills the air, and […]
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BULIMIA: A Young Woman’s Story of Healing from the Pain of Perfectionism
How can I be so stupid? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I control my eating? These are questions I continually asked myself for two years while trying to get healthy and fit. This was not easy for me, as I’d always been a perfectionist and believed minor imperfections would lead to catastrophe. Then in […]
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