Keys to Emotional Well-Being in Assisted Living
Only around 4% of people 70 years or older have depression, according to the CDC, but it takes dedication to maintain good emotional well-being. Many seniors face unique challenges every day, which can make it easy to fall into the trappings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
We want to help you find effective tools you can use in your life to keep yourself free of emotional distress.
Listed below are the top ways you can strengthen your emotional resilience even during tough times. Keep reading to learn all about how to implement them into your life right away!
Create a Support System
Having access to a variety of different support systems can make a huge difference in senior mental health. Sometimes a certain supportive group isn't available when you need them so it's in your best interest to have several you can rely upon.
Support systems can be a singular person or an entire group of people. Common examples include:
- Family members
- Friends
- Counselor or therapist
- Like-minded group
- Senior living staff members
Whenever there's a person or group you feel you can turn to when your thoughts are frazzled, that's a potential support system. Keep them all in mind whenever things start to feel too overwhelming so you can offset the emotional distress before it becomes a problem.
Participate in Activities and Events
Does your senior community offer exciting activities and events that you tend to ignore? Using activities for mental well-being can be effective and long-lasting.
Getting involved with other people and focusing on a fun project can remind you that those dark thoughts aren't the only things in your life.
You'll get to remember the joy of thriving in the company of others. You'll get to create something unique with your hands or experience something new.
Try to push yourself to participate in the activities and events available to you. If you struggle to find activities to fill your time, try joining a community that hosts them frequently to make it easier to stay involved.
Engage With Your Community
Socializing with other people is one of the biggest steps you can take toward bettering your emotional well-being. When the symptoms of depression and anxiety take root, it's easy to begin self-isolating. The issue is that this perpetuates those symptoms until they worsen into something difficult to overcome.
You'll need to push yourself to participate in social interactions with other people. It'll help you stay connected and involved with the people you care about. It'll remind you that people care about you and that you care for other people.
Social engagement in assisted living is paramount to good mental health.
Practice Deep Breathing Techniques
Emotional resilience requires you to have effective coping methods when your thoughts begin to spiral. They allow you to stop the spiral before it descends too far. They help you relax and regain control.
Deep breathing techniques are one of the best ways to achieve this. Not only are they effective, but they also are accessible to everyone, and easy to remember and implement.
You can use them at any time. Even in a busy crowd, you can inconspicuously take a few measured deep breaths to recenter yourself.
Some deep breathing techniques to look into include:
- 4-7-8 breathing
- Pursed lip breathing
- Belly breathing
- Mindfulness breathing
- Box breathing
- Diaphragmatic breathing
Enroll in Lifelong Learning
Having a goal to aim for can be a huge motivation that helps prevent the symptoms of depression. It gives you something to focus on and milestones to celebrate.
The act of learning anything at all can help you feel accomplished and provide a sense of pride.
You don't need to learn some obscure theory to achieve this feeling, either. Learning a new hobby, skill, or perspective can be enough to further your education and gain benefits from your effort.
Eat Nutritional Meals
Promoting emotional health in senior care shouldn't focus solely on the mental aspect. Your mental health and physical health are intertwined and rely upon one another to remain strong.
That's why you should make an effort to eat nutritional meals as much as possible. Indulging from time to time is understandable -- even necessary -- but your overall food consumption should have nutrition in mind.
This will help keep your body functioning at peak performance and prevent symptoms such as fatigue and body aches from pulling down your mood.
Use Digital Resources
Sometimes the answers to your emotional woes can come in the form of a digital resource. The web is full of videos, social connections, instructions, and guides that can help you find resilience.
They're the perfect fit for someone who prefers to do things on their own or someone who doesn't have easy access to other resources.
With a click of a button, you could find someone to talk to -- either an expert in the field or another person feeling similar emotions. Being able to quickly find help of any kind can be a relief for a lot of seniors. Don't neglect the digital resources available to you for those times when other avenues fall through.
Find Spiritual and Cultural Connections
Is there a spiritual or cultural inspiration in your life that you've let slip away? Is there one you've been curious to learn about but never took the plunge?
Using these kinds of sacred connections can help you remember the core values you hold dear. You can reconnect with other people who share those morals and ideas. You'll build a strong relationship with others who can support you in your time of need.
Plus, these connections often offer you unique activities and events that would otherwise be difficult to participate in.
Improve Your Emotional Well-Being With Us
By using even a few of the items on this list, you'll gift yourself tools that'll have a lasting positive impact on your emotional well-being. You can further your efforts by joining a senior community that puts your well-being above all else.
The Watermark by the Bay makes emotional support for elderly residents one of its top priorities. We will work with you to come up with a personalized care plan that will help you achieve happiness and safety every day. Make sure to contact us to start the process of joining our welcoming senior community in Emeryville, CA, today!