anxiety and retirement

[daylatedollarshort]

I personally have now done 6 cycles of this Fasting Mimicking Diet over the last year with rather profound measurable effects, including some mental.

Interesting. I just read Dr. Longo's book. Did you buy the fasting food from the company he is affiliated with or do it on your own?

 

[Nick12]

Try getting regular massages or at Planet Fitness gyms they have massage chairs and massage beds included in the membership. Kava tea can be helpful too.

 

[pjigar]

Get an acerage and grow everything you eat. That should keep you very busy, happy and healthy. I plan to do just that for a different reason: my shopping disorder.

 

[John Galt III]

Interesting thread! I have been retired for about 7 years now. I have always been a worrier and overthinker. Also have boredom to go along with the anxiety. Don't want to use drugs to calm down, but I do drink beer to relax. My anxiety is about having to trust other people. I'll be reading this thread.

 

[rkser]

I was reading about Mindfulness Meditation & saw few Videos on YouTube.

I wonder if anybody here would comment if they do that or know about it.

It is supposed to help with stress/ anxiety. & there are some phone apps for that .... headspace.. etc

Thanks

 

[steelyman]

I was reading about Mindfulness Meditation & saw few Videos on YouTube.

I wonder if anybody here would comment if they do that or know about it.

It is supposed to help with stress/ anxiety. & there are some phone apps for that .... headspace.. etc

Thanks

I’ve been practicing for years now and like it. Plus, it doesn’t cost a thing. A good, simple timer is nice to have but not necessary. I use one for iOS called “Meditation Timer Pro”:

http://www.maxwellapps.com/apps.html

 

[zaqxsw]

Don't want to use drugs to calm down, but I do drink beer to relax.

Thanks for finally saying this. Alcohol is the #1 "go to" solution. Amazing there hasn't been more replies (confessions?) saying this. Especially with COVID-19.

Along with anxiety, is usually boredom and fear. Hello COVID, and thus alcohol!

No, alcohol isn't a solution, BUT most folks use it, and it works for however long that it works.

I've been into meditation and mindfulness for almost 7 years. There is a point, anywhere in the process, where your mind will not accept these things, and alcohol is one of the solutions. The real problem with alcohol comes with getting older and your body starts rebelling against digesting any of the alcohol delivery methods. It is a sad day...

The other thing about most anxiety is it really isn't specific. You may think it is, but solve that one anxiety problem and soon another will replace it. I guess the label is "Generalized Anxiety Disorder", but really, it's just that you have anxiety.

Find peace where you can, but remember, we will all be at peace one day. It's a Buddhist truth that you have to learn to accept.

Just my two cents worth, and probably not worth much.

 

[O2Bfree]

I was reading about Mindfulness Meditation & saw few Videos on YouTube.

I wonder if anybody here would comment if they do that or know about it.

It is supposed to help with stress/ anxiety. & there are some phone apps for that .... headspace.. etc

Thanks

I've been into meditation for 15 years, with guidance from a reputable master, and find it to be a great solution for anxiety. Training your mental "hand" to open up and let go of things gets at the root cause of anxiety, which is reliance on conditions for peace of mind. Exercise and alcohol can provide some relief of course, but tend not to let you clearly comprehend the mental "mechanism" that clings to unhelpful thoughts. Also, it's easy to get attached to the processes and experiences involved, which can eventually cause new forms of dissatisfaction, such as when you get injured and can't exercise or when you wake up with a hangover.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Vitamin D deficiency can also cause depression and anxiety -


"In addition to its well-known role in calcium absorption, vitamin D activates genes that regulate the immune system and release neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin) that affect brain function and development."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ychological-consequences-vitamin-d-deficiency

 

[MRG]

Vitamin D deficiency can also cause depression and anxiety -


"In addition to its well-known role in calcium absorption, vitamin D activates genes that regulate the immune system and release neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin) that affect brain function and development."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ychological-consequences-vitamin-d-deficiency

Thanks for posting this. I have suffered from SAD and it stinks. The relationship between Vitamin D and depression could be important for me this year as we're getting less exposure to the sun due to Covid-19.

 

[Marita40]

Some years ago when I experienced some anxiety and panic attacks that coincided with the onset of menopause my doctor suggested daily fish oil, magnesium, and vitamin d. It worked, I still take, and anxiety never returned. It taught me to rule out physical causes first.

 

[FreeBear]

Thanks for posting this. I have suffered from SAD and it stinks. The relationship between Vitamin D and depression could be important for me this year as we're getting less exposure to the sun due to Covid-19.

+1.

I hear you! Moved from the northern gloom to sunny SE Arizona. Easier to deal with 4 months of heat than 7 months of cold, windy, wet, snowy darkness.

 

[Greddy]

First I wanted to thank OP and all the other contributors for the frank discussion of a topic that I think is still a bit taboo. I have had problems in my job, mostly connected to some coworkers who are just extremely selfish/narcissistic/arrogant. For a while I ended up constantly analyzing myself if there is something I did wrong or I could do better, and also talked it through with some good friends. One friend in particular helped a lot getting my head straight again, and I haven't talked to a professional, and so far have not taken any medications either. But it is clearly interfering with my life, I often awake in the middle of the night with overwhelming thoughts that keep me from going back to sleep.

Earlier in my life I also had a relationship with somebody with certain narcissistic behavior, and perhaps I am overly sensitized about these things now, and sometimes I realize that I even perceive such things where they don't exist, or perceive them more strongly than necessary. Fortunately my current partner and friend is a really calm individual and can help me to get my feelings more level, but it turns out I often end up causing stress for him by being perhaps too suspicious. And knowing that causes me more stress and more anxiety.

I now have a life decision to make whether I should continue in my job or do a reasonably early retirement, and I am struggling quite a bit with this because of the coworkers I mentioned; I like my job, but not this part of it, but I also feel I shouldn't have such external things influence my own life so much.

Thanks for any thoughts, ideas, or comments you may have!

 

[Markola]

I now have a life decision to make whether I should continue in my job or do a reasonably early retirement, and I am struggling quite a bit with this because of the coworkers I mentioned; I like my job, but not this part of it, but I also feel I shouldn't have such external things influence my own life so much.

Thanks for any thoughts, ideas, or comments you may have!

The workplace is unnatural, in that random people are thrown, like cats, into a bag and expected to be productive. The problem is, some of those cats are simply toxic and the rest have to adapt the best they can, because no one can leave the bag. Getting the hell away from such a$$hats is a major reason I initiated early retirement about 3 months ago. One of the worst offenders flashed in my mind today and I was overjoyed that I couldn’t even recall the person’s name at first, because I’d liberated myself from having to deal with them. I felt another wave of joy thinking about that person and certain other pieces of work being forced to continue to slog away in a deteriorating organization, because they are stuck there. Not me! I am very significantly happier having removed those irritants from my daily life. It’s one of the very best things about retiring.

 

[Nemo2]

The workplace is unnatural, in that random people are thrown, like cats, into a bag and expected to be productive.

Sounds like an encapsulation of life in general.

 

[eytonxav]

The best advice I can give in your situation is to come up with a detailed plan of how to occupy your time with activities that might minimize the anxiety. Knowing how one wants to spend their time in retirement is good for anyone contemplating retirement as some may find themselves bored if they previously enjoyed work.

 

[Greddy]

Here is an interesting article about depression after retirement. It turns out that retirement itself increases the risk of depression and anxiety:

A study published in the Journal of Population Ageing found that those who were retired were about twice as likely to report feeling symptoms of depression than those who were still working. And, research from the London-based Institute of Economic Affairs found that the likelihood that someone will suffer from clinical depression actually goes up by about 40% after retiring.

https://www.newretirement.com/retirement/retirement-depression/

 

[Markola]

Here is an interesting article about depression after retirement. It turns out that retirement itself increases the risk of depression and anxiety:
https://www.newretirement.com/retirement/retirement-depression/

It’s not that I disbelieve it for some retirees but the article makes generalized statements, like:

“A 2012 study in the Journal of Happiness Studies by Elizabeth Mokyr Horner, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, found that retirees experience a “sugar rush” of well-being and life satisfaction directly after retirement, followed by a sharp decline in happiness a few years later.”

 

[Greddy]

It’s not that I disbelieve it for some retirees but the article makes generalized statements, like:

“A 2012 study in the Journal of Happiness Studies by Elizabeth Mokyr Horner, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, found that retirees experience a “sugar rush” of well-being and life satisfaction directly after retirement, followed by a sharp decline in happiness a few years later.”

It should be said more precisely, but this statement is describing the average effect they are observing. The full paper is here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-012-9399-2 (possible paywall) Here is a quote of what they did:

This study combines cross-sectional data from the 2006 Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for 14 EU countries, the 2006 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) for the UK, and the 2004 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for the United States.1 These three surveys provide individual-level data on demographics, socioeconomic information, health history, mental health, and psycho-social measures of health. The surveys have a variety of modules that are similar by design, and in the years used, several compatible psycho-social variables were measured.

The total combined number of retirees in the study is around 18,000, and the key summary picture showing the effects described in the paper is here: