A senior citizen may desire to feel useful or needed to regain a zest for life.
Many senior citizens lose interest in life at this stage in their lives. Some are retired or suffer from bad health. They may have grown children who are busy with their own lives and rarely seem to have time for them. This feeling of not being needed or necessary can cause symptoms of depression or feelings of despair. The senior may withdraw from normal activities, stop caring about personal hygiene, refuse to attend family gatherings or feel hopeless. Getting a senior citizen interested in life again may seem a daunting task, but it is possible.
Instructions
1. Set up an appointment for the elderly person to receive a complete physical and accompany him to the visit. Advise the doctor before the exam of the senior's disinterest in life. The doctor will look for signs of depression or other medical conditions that may cause the indifference. If antidepressants are prescribed, a renewed zest for life and an increase in energy often follow.
2. Respect the senior citizen's feelings and viewpoints when discussing the apathy. While his views may seem invalid to you, he has a right to his own opinion. He has lived a long life and experienced many events that shape his personality and thought patterns.
3. Tell the senior citizen that his happiness and well-being is foremost in your thoughts. Reassure him that you are not trying to pry into his life but you truly care and are concerned about him.
4. Ask the senior to help you think of activities that would interest him. Be armed with plenty of suggestions from local senior citizen centers, his physician and others who love him.
5. Transport him to the activity or volunteer to tag along for moral support. Even at his advanced age, he may still feel anxious about going to an activity or joining in a group by himself. Volunteer to pick up one of his friends along the way or arrange to have someone else take him that will join in.
6. Ask senior citizens to help you with a project in which they have skills. For instance, if the senior is a woman, ask her to teach you to quilt or crochet. If she is able to babysit, ask her to take care of your child while you are running errands for her. Many seniors no longer feel useful or needed and this can be depressing for them.
7. Hire a companion to spend time with the senior citizen. This is an excellent way to fill the long hours of solitude with conversation, card games or simply another person with whom to watch TV. It also provides relief for him to know if he falls or needs assistance that someone is there and he won't be alone.
Tags: senior citizen, feel useful, feel useful needed, senior citizens, their lives, useful needed, zest life