Although people look forward to their retirement as an opportunity to finally stop worrying about earning money and working daily, many challenges present themselves with age. Older adults are likely to develop physical and mental health problems that make it difficult to enjoy life after retirement.
William Schantz suggests taking science-backed approaches to improve your mental health after retirement if you wish to make positive changes in your life.
William Schantz Recommends Joining Therapy
Many older adults are hesitant and skeptical about seeking a therapist and feel their life experiences have taught them enough. However, it is not unlikely for retirees to suddenly develop depressive symptoms and anxiety, which are difficult to deal with without external help. Relying on medical health professionals for healing is necessary since we need external feedback to point out our blind spots and facilitate positive lifestyle changes.
William Schantz fully acknowledges the science behind therapy and finding a psychologist to work with, especially if you’re struggling on your own. Bottling things up and suppressing your feelings can work against you and make your life miserable. For this reason, you should normalize the idea that it’s okay to seek treatment and rely on others’ expertise to help you recover from whatever it is you’re struggling with. Often, people are glad to finally be diagnosed with a mental health illness that may have been wreaking havoc in their lives for many years.
William Schantz Encourages Retirees to Engage in Social Support
Social support is highly beneficial for retirees who feel lonely living with their medical conditions. Reaching out to social support communities and finding online groups can help you feel supported, allowing you to live a vibrant life while learning coping strategies that help you deal with mental health problems.
According to William Schantz, older adults need reassurance that they are still valuable and loved and can still contribute in meaningful ways to others’ lives. Everyone will eventually face mental health problems associated with age and need support to thrive in their daily lives. If you feel like you’re struggling and cannot reach out to family members, know that social support exists to help everyone in their time of need.
William Schantz Suggests Meditation For Mental Health Peace
Many older adults find that after retiring from their jobs, they now have a lot of free time, which can increase feelings of loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and depression. For this reason, William Schantz recommends engaging in 20 minutes of meditation daily to become more comfortable sitting in silence.
Although staying busy helps your mental health, it is also a coping mechanism that people use to avoid addressing their deep-rooted problems. If you’ve spent your whole life ignoring, suppressing, repressing, and running away from your mental health problems, now is the time to build your cognitive faculties and mindfulness skills for mental peace.
Summing Up
Science-backed research suggests that these activities are useful for combating mental health problems. William Schantz recommends that older adults seek therapy, reach out to communities for social support, and indulge in meditation for self-healing. Looking at scientific studies may reassure you of the utility of these activities for your mental health.