Feeling blah is common to all.  There are times in life when the waves seem bigger than we can handle or the clouds become thick and block the sun.  This happens whether young or old.  One might even have the blahs at a great place like Messiah Village, but one of the wonderful aspects of living here is there are many resources to overcome the blahs!  There are many resources not only available to the residents of the Village, but also to older adults who live in the greater Harrisburg area.  If you have the blahs, or an older adult you know does, please connect with us to help this winter — and throughout the year.

Before coming to help lead Messiah Village I practiced as a psychologist for fifteen years.  I specialized in working with older adults.  I would like to share some thoughts from my training and experience:

• The blahs and depression are not the same. Older adults, just like other age groups, can experience one or both. Sometimes blahs lead to depression, but not necessarily. Suffering from what might be considered a “major depression” involves poor appetite, difficulty sleeping, low energy, poor concentration, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of hopelessness for at least two weeks.
• It is not normal for older adults to be depressed. Unfortunately some persons believe this is a part of normal aging, but it is not the case.  Research shows that older adults may actually be less clinically depressed than other age groups.  Older adults may show more symptoms of mild depression than younger age groups, but are not necessarily more clinically depressed.
• Studies show older adults can respond positively to treatment of depression (both medicines and psychotherapy).
• Depression can frequently occur with medical and neurological illnesses, and the depression should be treated in combination with these other illnesses.
• Unfortunately, there is a lot of negative stigma around depression.  It is not usually a “spiritual” or “attitude” problem.  We know there are physical and brain changes that occur when someone is depressed.  Hopefully, we can begin to see depression similar to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, etc so that persons with depression do not have an extra burden to carry.
• Effective treatment of depression usually involves a combination of counseling, medicine, exercise, nutrition, and new/effective thoughts and behaviors.

I believe every stage of life has opportunities and challenges. The blahs and blues can be part of any or all stages of life.  I am pleased that Messiah Village has many ways of beating the blahs and helping to serve those who might have the blues.  Real life and aging has its challenges, but is also filled with healing and hope.