The key to happiness is learning how to ditch the bad mood and feel better. Seniors may benefit from adopting these instant mood-boosters:
1. Eat something: Seniors may benefit from adding small snacks to their daily diet as a way to avoid becoming grumpy. Keeping even blood sugar can prevent those mid-morning and mid-afternoon lows.
2. Get outside: Seasonal depression has been attributed to lack of vitamin D. Since the body produces Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, the best thing to do is head outside! For those in chilly climates, find a spot indoors with big windows that offers plenty of sunlight.
3. Laugh!: “Laughter is the best medicine”; and while it may not cure your arthritis pain, it will definitely lighten your mood. If you’re feeling down, call a friend who has a good sense of humor or watch a funny movie and cheer yourself up.
4. Get organized: A cluttered home can really ruin the mood sometimes. Seniors feel much better if they do a little housekeeping – whether it’s larger tasks like handling dishes or running some laundry through the wash or smaller ones like going through the mail or organizing a small cluttered area in the house.
5. Pet an animal: If possible, visit with a furry friend when you’re in the need of a mood boost. Petting a dog or cat makes you feel happy and also benefits the pup or kitty!
The best solution to dealing with difficult elderly parents is almost always communication. Unfortunately, parents can be generally uneasy talking with their children about fears of the future, finances, and their mortality. If your loved one seems increasingly frustrated, anxious, or otherwise emotionally disturbed, it’s your responsibility to find out why if you want to help fix the problem. The next time both of you are in a pleasant mood, try warming them up to the conversation, and be ready to try several times before you’re successful.
Like all moods, a bad one is a mental state that arises due to causes and conditions of the moment, and those causes and conditions will change. Realizing the fleeting nature of a bad mood can help you hold it more lightly until it runs its course and passes out of your mind.
Most of all, if your parent starts in any way depending on you, it means the world has turned upside down. So, be prepared for that radically new paradigm because here, the old rules may not apply as well as the old methodologies and old emotions. Be prepared to work on it, accept the change and write a whole new script.
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