I’ve talked about physical health, but we cannot overlook mental health. We cannot make appropriate decisions about ourselves unless we have good mental health. “Good” mental health = free from any and all mental and/or neurological disorders that block our ability to make appropriate decisions concerning our health, well-being, and relationship with others.
Hey all you Baby-Boomers! What tends to be on our minds (or not….sorry, bad pun) at this stage of our lives? D-E-M-E-N-T-I-A. We all joke about it…..but then you have a friend or family member who has it and now it’s serious. We worry that it might happen to us. How would we exist? Who will help us? The time is NOW to get serious. We all forget stuff once in a while. That’s just part of life as we try to cram more and more info into our brains. I always say that your brain can only hold so much and then it starts to do a data dump. Not really but it feels that way sometimes. The key to survival is honesty; with yourself and others. Ask your family and friends to tell you if they see specific symptoms, then do your own assessment and seek professional guidance. Check out this link for symptoms: https://www.healthline.com/health/dementia/early-warning-signs …….and don’t forget…..be open and honest! If you suspect you may have the start of dementia, start keeping a journal about things you forget or things others have told you that you forget. No one wants to admit they have a mental illness or neurological disorder. Well, snap out of it and get help before it’s too late. If caught early and treated, you may be able to control the symptoms or slow down the disease progression, but it cannot be cured or reversed. On the other hand, there are certain medical diseases that can cause dementia symptoms, such as hypothyroidism. So if you can successfully treat the underlying disease, the dementia symptoms could dissipate.
I’m not going to go into detail about these but there are other neurological disorders that can pop up where treatment can positively impact the outcome: bipolar disease, borderline personality disorder, and depression. Just a few so FYI. Oh, one note about depression. We’ve done life and sometimes life is tough. When we hear about something bad or sad, we say “I’m depressed.” With an ongoing trial we say “this is depressing”. Sure, we all get depressed once in a while. But when you allow yourself to stay in that depressive state for a while, the brain can actually undergo chemical changes that could lead to a moderate or severe depression where you can no longer pull yourself out by yourself. Time to seek help. But try not to let yourself get to that point. Recognize the warning signs and go POSITIVE with your life. Seek out all that is good…..all that the Lord has blessed you with. If you fall down, get up and brush yourself off. Get back on the horse…..etc…..etc. We cannot…..and must not….go through life alone. Connect and live!