Reply to 79 years old -- my mom looks and feels great, and is not needy at all

Forum Index » Eldercare

Reply to "79 years old -- my mom looks and feels great, and is not needy at all"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I think mental health can impact this a lot. Also, how you live in middle age will determine a lot of how you live in old age.

My mom has serious mental health issues that have been around for decades but have gotten much worse in her 70s. I have started to read a bit about how history of depression or anxiety can impact dementia, and I think that is what is happening with my mom. I don't think it's just that as you age, you lose brain function. Some quickness perhaps, yes, but I don't think it's automatic. But I think my mom has been fighting with her brain for most of her life, and rather than getting treatment for depression that might have helped rewire her brain towards greater functionality, she lived with the disfunction. I think that's become really apparent in the last few years. She's started engaging in all these really troubling behaviors -- lying, childish attempts at manipulation, etc. It is disturbing to watch as her child. I feel it must be connected to her neglect of mental health issues for many years.

And that is linked to lifestyle and health choices. She's always been a very sedentary person (I think very influenced by the depression) and eaten a diet high in sugar and fat. That of course has had a really negative impact on her in these later years -- diabetes, plus she's very heavy now and that impacts her body comfort and joints, only further diminishing her willingness to get up and move (which is what she needs!).

It is very sad to see and has created a very large burden on my siblings and I. My dad does a little better but only moderately, and they feed off one another.

I am very committed to taking care of my body and my brain so that I can age as gracefully as I can, for both my sake and for my children. Of course there are things you can't control, like cancer. But all the more reason to control the things you can. I don't want to wind up angry, overweight, bitter, lying to my children, lying to my doctors, behaving like a difficult child. I don't want my later years to look like they do for my parents.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics