My battle with depression after my retirement has an expiration date.

by Soky
(Tampa, FL)

I still remember my first job as a clerk at a department store in the Bronx, New York when I was 14. From thereon in, I've worked all my life.

I retired in 2013 after 55 years of a wonderful life working and getting a good salary. So, after retirement, I moved to Puerto Rico for a couple of years, got remarried to my first husband after 42 years and moved back to Florida with him. We have a great relationship, but I am not happy.

He is a great husband, but cannot understand my feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. I have been so depressed that I was taking sleep medication during the day just to sleep and then, I could not sleep at night, so I'd have the TV on all night.

I have felt useless and old. Like someone threw me away.

Where are all my friends?
Where are all the activities after work?
Where have all the flowers gone?

I became so depressed that I started thinking of death almost everyday, wondering how and when was I going to die and if I was prepared for eternity.

I turned 68 on August 12 and honestly, I don't feel old. Am I?

So I decided that the only one that could set me back on my feet, was me, with God's help. So, I am going back to my faith. With God all things are possible.

I am doing a turnaround and will try to make a difference in someone's life. There are so many folks out there that can use our strengths, and sharing with others will lessen our loneliness, I believe.

After being diagnosed with vulvar cancer I thought that I was dying without achieving anything with the time I had been given, and after the successful operation, I can only believe that I am here for a purpose.

Please use your time and even if you don't feel like it, as the old song says, "make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy too".

Comments for My battle with depression after my retirement has an expiration date.

Click here to add your own comments

Depression and Drinking
by: Anonymous

Husband retired six months ago. He was 'replaced'.

I know he is depressed but he starts drinking first thing in the morning. He has a bottle hidden in his truck. He doesn't care about his appearance or hygiene. It is just matter of time before he hurts himself or someone else while driving.

I feel guilty about it but I'm ready to throw in the towel.

Wendy: Go to Alcoholics Anonymous (call, website, whatever) and get help for yourself on how to deal with him... Please help yourself, they have answers for you!


Battle with depression
by: Ade Mohammed

So glad you have decided on your own to commit everything to God. You won't regret it. Follow your own advice and you won't go wrong

The Anxiety Trap
by: Elna Nugent, Lenox, MA

Hello: The most respected person in the world according to a reliable poll is Eckhart Tolle who tells us that it is impossible to be unhappy if we dwell in "The Now".

We live in a continuous NOW. The Past and Future have no reality or meaning of their own.

To always consciously live in the NOW is not easy to do. We seem to seek out any kind of distraction beyond what is happening at this moment.

But when you listen to the sound your footsteps on pavement as you go out to get the mail or the newspaper and hear the sound of a bird or a dog barking, we suddenly live in the reality of NOW.

Our egos tend to rule our lives which means we are always going to feel " we are not enough". The great mystics of history tell us that trusting our egos to the "God Consciousness" transforms everything into what is new, and real and workable.

Everything is alive, even a stone. Eckhart Tolle used to be a driven man, a self-loathing person on the brink of suicide. Today he teaches us all how to live and find meaning.

His initial book is The Power of NOW. Please consider seeing a well respected counselor and consider getting this book from the nearest library.

Many blessings.





Great Advice
by: Anonymous

I feel your pain and have been there, in the depths of depression and no one can really help you but yourself and your faith.

Realizing that you are still alive and being grateful for that is the first step.

I have found that volunteerism and helping others is what gives meaning to my life too. There are so many ways we seniors can give back. A great resource online is Volunteer Match, which matches your talents and interests with opportunities in your area. If you can take that first step the rewards are boundless!

Good luck in your continuing recovery!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Anxiety and Depression.