{"id":330,"date":"2014-05-12T11:30:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T16:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/resources.swirca.org\/en\/?p=330"},"modified":"2014-05-12T11:46:19","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T16:46:19","slug":"may-mental-health-month-keeping-sanity-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.swirca.org\/en\/may-mental-health-month-keeping-sanity-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"May is Mental Health Month: Keeping Your Sanity is Not an Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Being mentally healthy is not an accident, nor solely dependent on good genes.<\/strong> People don\u2019t go suddenly \u201cinsane,\u201d as movies suggest. Instead, it\u2019s an accumulation of consequences. Sanity and well-being doesn\u2019t happen overnight, either. It takes a consistent effort, making good decisions for the sake of your overall wellness rather than an immediate gain. <strong>And it\u2019s never too late to make positive improvements, changes, and to experience the emotional benefits of better psychological living.<\/strong> <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Life presents us with a series of expected developmental milestones (going to school, marriage, raising and launching children, grand-parenting, retirement, loss of loved ones, declining physical bodies) and unexpected challenges (unemployment, accidents, natural disasters, cancer, dementia). The resilience we accumulate during the calm, uneventful times by making healthy decisions carries us through the challenging periods of our lives. The idea of \u201cbanking resilience\u201d is well-substantiated in the scientific literature, serving as a protective factor. So, <strong>how do we stockpile resilience and nurture a sense of positive well-being?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are a number of ingredients to keeping your sanity with age, beginning with a balanced life including <strong>healthy eating, weight control, moderation in alcohol usage, not smoking, and remaining physically active<\/strong>. Additionally, as we age our ideas of sexuality expand beyond just \u201cthe act\u201d to include<strong> intimacy and closeness<\/strong>. Don\u2019t deny this part of well-being, either.<\/p>\n<p>Although we welcome the leisure of retirement, we get more from our jobs than just a paycheck: opportunities to interact with others, a daily routine, and a sense worth. What\u2019s the first question people often ask: \u201cWhat do you do for a living?\u201d Losing this source of identity can be troublesome, especially for men. <strong>Find a part-time job, volunteer at an elementary school, teach people how to read, <\/strong>serve on the<strong> parish council, <\/strong>routinely<strong> help at the senior activity center, or <\/strong>explore the opportunities with the<strong> U.S. Government\u2019s Senior Corps.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard computer experts warning about downloading files off the web or clogging up your PC with too much junk &#8212; it\u2019s the \u201cgarbage in, garbage out\u201d principle. <strong>A steady stream of negative information, bits of pessimism, cynical thoughts, and images all pollute our thinking and impair happiness.<\/strong> This mental garbage can come from people, news media, or even our habit of seeing the glass half-empty. Spend more time with optimistic people, look for that silver lining, be thankful, watch less than two hours of television, compliment others, practice smiling, find humor and laugh, and be conscious of the type of books you read or movies watched.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Build a broad network of supportive friends, from the age of 2 to 92.<\/strong> Take risks, try a different restaurant, talk to a stranger while grocery shopping, try bowling, or go listen to a live band. A senior could also telephone a neighbor, listen to music, adopt a dog. Give and receive help. Doing both creates positive exchanges that bind us together. Routinely go to church or Sunday school, a terrific opportunity to interact, socialize, and meet people. Go dancing, fishing, or venture to one of the countless church events, socials, and fish fries here in the Tri-State community. Take a college course, a non-credit class on a special topic, an introductory flying lesson.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remove the words \u201cold, can\u2019t, shouldn\u2019t, and must\u201d from your vocabulary<\/strong>; they only limit possibilities. Be mindful that people grow and change throughout their lives, and every moment is an opportunity to be healthy, build resilience, stay sane, and be happy.<\/p>\n<p><i>Dr. Vaughn DeCoster is an associate professor of Social Work at USI and specializes in trauma, emotion, and working with older adults. He is <\/i><i>a member <\/i><i>of the planning committee for the 7th annual Mid-America Institute on Aging, to be held August 14-15, 2014, co-sponsored by the University of Southern Indiana and SWIRCA &amp; More. More information at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usi.edu\/health\/continuing-education\/summer-programs\">http:\/\/www.usi.edu\/health\/continuing-education\/summer-programs<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being mentally healthy is not an accident, nor solely dependent on good genes. People don\u2019t go suddenly \u201cinsane,\u201d as movies suggest. Instead, it\u2019s an accumulation of consequences. Sanity and well-being doesn\u2019t happen overnight, either. It takes a consistent effort, making good decisions for the sake of your overall wellness rather than an immediate gain. And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>May is Mental Health Month: Keeping Your Sanity is Not an Accident - Senior Resource Guide of Southwest Indiana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/resources.swirca.org\/en\/may-mental-health-month-keeping-sanity-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"May is Mental Health Month: Keeping Your Sanity is Not an Accident - Senior Resource Guide of Southwest Indiana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Being mentally healthy is not an accident, nor solely dependent on good genes. People don\u2019t go suddenly \u201cinsane,\u201d as movies suggest. Instead, it\u2019s an accumulation of consequences. Sanity and well-being doesn\u2019t happen overnight, either. It takes a consistent effort, making good decisions for the sake of your overall wellness rather than an immediate gain. 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