Does anyone feel old and useless with age?
Hi, I'm almost 64.. I'm feeling old and useless. My strength isn't good anymore. Like it used to be mainly side effects of meds. My health is poor with cvsd. Osteoporosis, poor circulation, hearing , eyesight, you name it's going. I always took care of myself. Now I've gotten older and everything's wrong, my grandkids don't a want me around and they are little still. No friends to talk with or do things with. Why is it we spend our lifetime taking care of family. Loving friends to end up , old and tired. Useless.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.
Melbourne.. it's a shame she can't be more understanding and empathetic and hence kinder to you
To @petillo
I don’t belong to any religious group but my anxiety and total lack of sleep prevents me from even leaving the house. I am on a steady decline of my own making.
To @1oldsoul
I have been on Ambien, Ativan, and Xanax. They all worked for a few weeks each and then they stopped working. I managed to get out of the house to keep my psychiatrist appointment today. He doesn’t prescribe meds. We came to a possible understanding that because of my social phobia, my system cannot accept any kind of change. Here I was thinking of moving back to Florida where I have family. I wanted to sell my collectibles that had been accumulating dust, and I think my brain said “oh boy, we’re heading for a change” and my body decided to freak out. The first thing that happens to me when I have anxiety is loss of sleep. No sleep since Sept.
To @sandwalk
I have been to countless Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners. It’s hard to find a psychiatrist who accepts Medicare. I will try again as not sleeping for months is deadly.
Hi Dorothy and husband,
I hope today was a good day for you two. I'm sorry your husband has Parkinson's. That's awful to deal with.
It's hard when you don't have a lot of friends and probably don't really feel comfortable with a lot of people in your life. My husband and I were that way also. All of our friends and there weren't many have all died. My husband was 83 when he died of lung cancer. I'm 78. We preferred just to be with each other. Now it's just me.
I'm sorry about your anxiety over different tasks that you have to do. Have you tried talking yourself through them? Sometimes I do that. I just tell myself out loud, "I'm going to start the laundry and then go make the bed. After that, defrost the hamburger for dinner." It puts things in perspective and they don't seem so overwhelming.
That is terrible that you were abused as a child. But that was then and not now. Maybe it's best to try and forget about it as much as you can. It could be that you are afraid of the therapy appointments because that's where you re-live the terrible abuse that you had done to you.
Have you and your husband done anything fun lately? Like making popcorn and watching something on TV that you both enjoy? Or perhaps doing a jigsaw puzzle together. My husband did both of those things together. We also made cookies together. It makes things easier to cope with and we all need enjoyment in our lives!
I wish you both the best. Keep praying and so will I.
PML
@pml
I will be 78 in March (not looking forward to it) and my husband is 86. I am fearful of the future. The few friends my husband had in our tiny neighborhood of 70 homes passed away from cancer two years ago. You sound like you are adjusting well. I have too much anxiety to watch tv and I used to listen to music at night but can’t do that either. I can’t even cook anything or do the laundry. Writing out checks to pay the bills makes my hands shake so badly that I have resorted to printing. I won’t pay bills on line as both my husband and I had our personal information hacked. Thank you for your prayers. My best to you.
Scientific studies show that people belonging to religious groups are much happier than non group members. Give it a try
I fired all my doctors except for one this past year. Way too many meds a day. And each contradicted the other. No one read my charts!!!
Now, I am down to 4 meds a day to stay alive. And I live with the 3's when I get anxious: see 3 things, Hear 3 things, move 3 body parts... It works for me. Truly close to retirement, down to a 3 day work week and listening to my body soul and mind. Cleaned my life of the bad people, and only share the good of me with the few good friends I have left. Stopped looking backwards. Moving forward. Planning my summer garden, painting, seniorizing my condo, made a new will, loving the Indy 500, and decided not to give up on the world quite yet ... There still are some good people out there...like all of you. Thank each and everyone of you ❤️.
I have those feelings on occasion. I have gotten better since joining the Senior Center in my town. It’s someplace to go and be with other people. Things to do and places to go. Changed my outlook. 🩷