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 […]
Continue readingSENIORS’ 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 […]
Continue readingPHYSICAL 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 […]
Continue readingCOMPLEX 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. […]
Continue readingELDER 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 […]
Continue readingMEN’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, […]
Continue readingTHE 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 […]
Continue readingTHAT 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 […]
Continue readingDEPRESSION & 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 […]
Continue readingSENIORS’ 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 […]
Continue reading‘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 […]
Continue readingNATURE’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 […]
Continue readingPERFECTIONISM: 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 […]
Continue readingJO’S JOURNEY: A Personal Story of Healing From Fear & Anxiety
SUMMARY HEADS UP producer Jo de Vries shares her personal story of healing from acute anxiety attacks that started when she was 12 years old. Now in her sixties, and after 20 years of taking two psychotrophic medications, she is in the process of healing with the help of two medical professionals. Family physician/psychotherapist Dr. […]
Continue readingGRATITUDE VS TOXIC POSITIVITY: Understanding Their Impacts on Your Mental Health
It’s healthy to be grateful, but how much is too much? As a psychology student I wanted to know, so I started digging… In the late 1960s, psychologist and educator Martin Seligman’s discovery of learned helplessness kick-started a field that would later be coined by Seligman as positive psychology. Many mental health professionals have embraced […]
Continue readingA Parents’ Guide to Social Media & Youth Mental Health
Without a doubt, social media is a culturally ingrained digital platform among the younger generation. A powerful means to connect and share with others, social media is a part of everyday life even for young children. In fact, a PubMed Central study on social media use reveals that Canadians as young as six years old […]
Continue readingJO’S JOURNEY: Finding Freedom from Fear & Anxiety
Please note that I shared my story for informational purposes only to help others. If you’re experiencing mental health challenges or want to taper off medication, please seek advice from your doctor and/or a mental health professional. Imagine you’re lying down… tied to a railway track. You start to feel vibrations in the ties and […]
Continue readingSENIORS’ MENTAL HEALTH: Part 2 – Social Influences, Life Circumstances, Personal Choices & Better Care
SUMMARY Senior’s mental health is affected by social threats such as stigma, ageism, and racism, and impacted by individual circumstances such as isolation, loneliness, poverty, poor physical health, lack of independence, and abuse. In Part 2 of this podcast, Marjorie Horne (seniors’ advocate and founder of CareSmart Seniors Consulting), Naomi Mison (caregiver and founder of […]
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