After Retirement Anxiety and Depression

Retirement means an adjustment in your mindset. After you retire, you may experience anxiety and depression . You suddenly have all this free time with no committments - but does that make you happy, or anxious?

Oddly enough, all our working years, we wish for freedom. We can't wait to be wild, happy and free in retirement. Then comes the day we walk out the proverbial retirement door -- and what do we DO with the rest of our life?

During the working years, the ability to keep up our laundry and household duties, usually done on the weekends, sounds positively blissful. Suddenly retired, those duties feel so mundane and you become bored, depressed and anxious in retirement.

Recognize these anxious feelings are normal... suddenly, nothing is the same. But that's ok as you transition into your New Self, the Retired Person who is HAPPY with a New Life!

-- You've left your friends behind as they are still working and that sounds depressing, but were they really friends or simply co-workers? Put the relationships in the correct perspective and if they were great friends -- grab that phone and make a lunch date with them -- now!

-- You've lost your identify and ask yourself: who AM I now? You can't introduce yourself anymore -- "Hi, I'm Wendy" instead of "Hi, I'm Wendy from Human Resources" or "Sally from General Motors".

-- You likely assume that once you stop working, you can spend more time with your family. You have extra time now, you'd like to make dinner for them, or spend time with the grand children. BUT your grown kids are still on the fast track of life... and may have lots less time for you, compared to what you had hoped. They might welcome a baby sitter though. Just don't expect them to suddenly visit and help you more after you retire... some do, many don't.

What to do? Talk to friends and family about what you are going through. Maybe one person has that nugget of wisdom that just "clicks" with you and you are on your way to a happy retirement. If necessary, seek professional help, talk to your doctor about your feelings to assure someone is caring for your welfare.

Join a Retirement Group online! Just simple yahoo groups for folks to chat in. Join one for your specific birth decade (Born in the 30s, 40s, 50s or Retired Pen Pals). You can easily get back out, if you decide its not for you, but this is one more awesome way to find new friends and talk about the retirement transition!

THINK about where you'd like to be in life -- find new hobbies or new friends, volunteer, work part time -- just don't sit at home in a depressed state.

Are you depressed?

Links to other websites featuring retirment and depression articles to help you through this problem.

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