Tag Archives for depression

Coping with the ‘holiday blues’

Published in The Pawtucket Times on December 6, 2010

Got the Christmas spirit? Family get-togethers, watching football or even shopping and sharing of gifts may not be so easy as in previous years with the economy in turmoil, watching your retirement funds dwindle or worrying about the security of your job.

But experts say that coping with the “holiday blues” can be as easy as keeping your expectations reasonable this year. Be clear about what is really important to you. If your holiday does not play out like a Hollywood B movie, that’s ok. Family gatherings are not always perfect or reflect a “Kodak moment.” With this year’s economy, moderation becomes key when shopping for gifts for your loved ones. Support the local community by buying locally made items. Or gather the family together and make a joint decision to make a donation to a meaningful local charity that needs local financial support.

Eat, drink and try to be merry in moderation. When food shopping, use coupons, buy store brand items or shop at grocery stores like Price-Rite or Save-A-Lot.

If you are lonely, depressed or suicidal making it difficult to shake this year’s “holiday blues,” contact The Samaritans of Rhode Island, a nonprofit program dedicated to reducing the occurrence of suicide by providing a volunteer manned crisis hotline/ listening line the hopeless, alone and despairing.

Denise Panichas, The Samaritan’s executive director, notes that the communications based charity, established in Providence in 1977, teaches volunteers to effectively listen to people who are in crisis.

Conversations are free, confidential, most importantly anonymous.

A rigorous 21-hour training program teaches volunteers to feel and think without expressing personal judgments or opinions.

Last year, more than 9, 000 Rhode Islanders called The Samaritans, Panichas says. “It doesn’t matter what the problem is, be it depression, suicidal thoughts, seeking resources for mental health services in the community or just being lonely and needing to talk,” she said.

Panichas says that The Samaritans also offer other needed resources to caregivers and to older Rhode Islanders.

“We do community education programs and also have our peer-to-peer Safe Place Support Group for those left behind by suicide.” If you can’t seem to shake the “holiday blues” or just need someone to talk who cares, call The Samaritans’hotline at 401-272-4040. To learn more about the work of The Samaritans of Rhode Island or if you would like to volunteer or donate visit the agency’s website at http://www.samaritansri. org.

Herb Weiss is a Pawtucketbased free-lance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.


The Best of…Call the Samaritans for a Shoulder to Lean On

Published on December 24, 2001, Pawtucket Times

             Chestnuts roasting on the fire.  Green wreaths with red ribbons. Soothing Christmas music coming from speakers in shopping malls.  Houses decorated with long strands of brightly colored lights.  Decorated evergreen trees.

            Got the Christmas spirit?  Many do, but many don’t, especially if they are seniors.

           With Christmas tomorrow, not everyone is feeling the holiday spirit.  The  holidays may be a very difficult time for seniors, particularly the elderly who have lost spouses and friends, have painful chronic illnesses or feel isolated or powerless, says Cynthia Barry, M.S.W, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island.  At this time “some may feel depressed and even suicidal.”

            Even drinking during the holidays can put seniors at a higher risk of experiencing depression and thinking about suicide, Barry adds.

            Even drinking during the holidays can put seniors at a higher risk of experiencing depression and thinking about suicide, Barry adds.

            But the stigma of mental illness will keep older persons from seeking out needed treatment for their depression or suicidal thoughts, Barry says.  Those who feel that they have a problem with depression should visit their local mental health care, neighborhood health canter, the family physician or even private practitioners re commended by their health plan, she says.

            Carolyn Pellegrino, deputy director of Self Help, Inc., a nonprofit community action agency in the East Bay that provides senior case management to all upper East Bay communities and both Pawtucket and Central Falls, , notes that 60 percent of her older clients usually involve  persons who just worry to those experiencing severe clinical depression.

           “There’s a lot of depression out there,” Pellegrino says, adding that today’s seniors, who grew up in a different era, were told not to dal with their feelings of depression, “just get on with your life.”

          Although depression, like heart diseased, is an illness, seniors will get treated for their heart disease, but not their depression, Pellegrino says.  Oftentimes, a combination of medication and therapy can do wonders about a person’s depression, she states.

          A newly released Public Service Announcement (PSA) tells seniors to seek out another resource to fight the holiday blues.  Last week, WHJJ and B101 played a PSA featuring well-know songwriter Bill Withers who, after singing a few lines of his popular song, “Lean on Me,” urges his radio listeners “feeling low with nowhere to turn to contact The Samaritans.”

        Directed to the lonely, the depressed and suicidal, the PSA is intended to raise the awareness of the existence of The Samaritans of Rhode Island, a nonprofit program dedicated to reducing the  occurrence of suicide by reaching out to the despairing and lonely.

          Denise Panichas, serving as The Samaritans’ interim executive director states the communication-based program, established in Providence in 1979, teaches volunteers to effectively listen to people who are in crisis.  Conversations are free, confidential, most important anonymous.

         A rigorous training program teachers volunteers to feel and think without expressing personal judgements or opinions, Panichas says, noting that the listening technique, called “befriending,” calls for 90 percent listening and 10 percent talking.

          Last year, more than 20,o00 Rhode Islanders called The Samaritans, Panichas said.  The Samaritans, Panichas said.  “It doesn’t matter what the problem is, be it depression, suicidal thoughts, seeking resources for mental health services in the community or being  lonely and just needing to talk,” she said.

          Panichas notes that The Samaritans also offers other needed resources to caregivers and older Rhode Islanders. “We do community education programs and also have our peer-to-peer Safe Place Support Group for those left behind by suicide.

          For seniors who are looking for something to do with their time, the art of “befriending” is something that anybody can do.  Becoming a compassionate listener to someone in need.

         Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-freelance writer who covers health care, aging and medical issues.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Elderhostel Brings R.I. History Alive

Published in Pawtucket Times on Oct. 15, 2001

Some seniors age 55 and over have traveled to small French villages to see where Monet once walked and view his masterpiece artworks in Parisian museums.

Or those with a strong appreciation of music have traveled between cities, from Memphis to New Orleans, to learn about America’s greatest music – spirituals, blues and jazz.

The more adventuresome have immersed themselves in India’s 2,000 years of history and exotic culture by visiting the country’s ancient forts, temples, and palaces, traveling from Delhi to Jodhpur.

The described trips are just a few of more than 11,000 programs offered annually in more than 100 countries by the Boston-based Elderhostel, a nonprofit group considered to be one of the world’s largest educational and travel organizations that offer travel packages to seniors age 55 and older.

For Elderhostel’s fall programming, more than 34,226 seniors have attended in-depth lectures, field trips and cultural excursions as 1,847 enrollment sites throughout the world. In Pawtucket, Marcia Sandeen, 76, along with 39 other hostelers from Texas, Colorado, Nevada, New York, and as far away as Florid, came to learn Rhode Island’s history and view its quaint colonial streets, explore English-style mill villages and rare New England stoneenders.

Planned by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council (BVTC), presentations by local historians and travel to local historical sites create an exceptional learning experience about Rhode Island’s history and and architectural treasures. Throughout the five-day jam-packed itinerary the older hostelers traveled throughout the Ocean State visiting an array of sites, from the Friends Meeting House in Lincoln to Pawtucket’s historic Slater Mill, the John Brown House, Pendleton Houses and a tour of Benefit Street in Providence, to a Newport mansion, “The Breakers.”

Even meal time brought history alive to the seniors who ate lunch at the Modern Diner in Pawtucket, a customized and factory-built Sterling Steamliner diner that was the first diner to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The group also dined at the Hose Company No. 6, a renovated 1895 fire station in Pawtucket and the Stagecoach Tavern Restaurant in Chepachet, located in an old tavern occupied by soldiers during the Dorr rebellion in 1842.

Sandeen admits “a retied teacher never stops learning.” And she hasn’t either. Since 1987, the former Houston elementary school teach who now resides in Las Vegas, has traveled to 35 Elderhostel programs across the United States, even traveling to four foreign countries.

Why come to Rhode Island? “It’s fascinating to be here because of its heritage and history,” she tells All About Seniors, adding that her favorite programs are always “historic and scenic.” That sums up Rhode Islan

During a tour of Pawtucket’s Slater Mill, Sandeen was clearly impressed with the preservation of the old mill complex.

The birthplace of America’s Industrial Revolution was a great onsite classroom for the older hostelers, too. “The tour guides were excellent and you could tell that they really love the subject,” she mentioned, as she walked with her group through the historic mill built in 1793.

Last month’s horrific terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C. and New York City did not stop 70-year old Lillian Mordas and her husband Joseph, 75, of Beacon, N.Y., from attending the Elderhostel program in Rhode Island. The retired elementary school teachers have visited eight states during their 10-year involvement with the Elderhostel organization.

Tourism should not be stopped by fear. Lillian Mordas says, with her husband nodding in agreement. The couple have lived through the Depression, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. “We’ve seen quite a bit and we must show the younger people that you should not be fearful of traveling. You manage to survive through the tough things,” she stated.

Before coming to Rhode Island the Mordas did not realize that the state was so industrial and had so many mill buildings. Now it’s obvious to them. “We’re overwhelmed at being in a state that is considered the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution and one that has made so many contributions to religious freedom,” Lillian added.

“So many cultures and life experiences come through Rhode Island’s Elderhostel program,” notes Bob Billington, BVTC’s executive director, who has organized 20 Elderhostel programs in Rhode Island during the last six years. “The programming must meet all the educational requirements and standards set forth by Elderhostel,” he says. But add to travel, meals, gratuities and medical or insurance coverage, you get a great deal of value, he says.

But for the older hostelers, a zest for living and curiosity of exploring new places and a desire to learn from each other are the right ingredients to keep them coming back for years.

Elderhostel’s programming is offered in all 50 states and more than 80 countries. For m ore information call the toll-free registration line at 1-877-426-8056, or visit the groups website at http://www.elderhostel.org.