How Caregivers Can Build Community (Even During Isolation)
Caregivers are one of the most socially isolated groups in the United States. According to studies by AARP, NIH, and The Family Caregiver Alliance, 40%-70% of caregivers report depression and loneliness. Because our free time is such a precious commodity, it’s...
Is There a Medical Cure for Loneliness?
Every day it seems scientists discover more ways in which loneliness can attack our bodies and shorten our lives. The Research is alarming, but for most of us, it is also confusing. How do scientists take a ubiquitous, enduring and universal feeling and turn it into a...
The life that is waiting
“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” ~ Joseph Campbell “I hate my life” No, that’s not me speaking. My life is lovely just as it is. I am quoting the oft written or spoken phrase that comes from someone whose...
Combatting the Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness in Seniors
Social interaction is often considered a component for living a longer, healthier life. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Lisa Marsh Ryerson, President of the AARP Foundation said research demonstrates “people have increased risk of death due to loneliness.”...
Getting out of the house has an impact on your life expectancy
Today Wiley Research made an interesting announcement about the importance of getting out of the house: In a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society study of community-dwelling individuals aged 70 to 90 years who were participating in the Jerusalem Longitudinal...
What does it feel like to be me?
What does it feel like to be me? The first word to come to mind is “full”. Frustrated is a close second. My 91yr. old mother has lived with me for six years. Her dementia has stolen her reasoning, memory, logic and ability to track what I’m saying....
Grief and loneliness, precious dreams
When we lose a loved one, what is it we want most. In my cases, I kept saying over and over, “I want her back,” “I just want her back!” Well, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. As I found, as did many before me, death is so final....
Grief, Loneliness and the Coke machine
Over the past few years I’ve written thousands of words on grief and loneliness. Sadly, I have to say, I’ve never came up with a solution, but instead, ways to cope. There are things we can do to help ourselves out, if only for a few moments or hours at a...
Grief & Loneliness: Rescued by a Feral Cat
June 9th, 2012, while sitting on the steps outside my back door, having what many folks would call a pity party over the loss of my wife Annie, two years previously, I discovered a little treasure in the rough. When you’re alone, grieving, lonely, it’s...
Caregiver grief & loneliness
On 28 December 2015 I posted Grief: a silent killer. In the article I discussed caregiving, grief, stress and the role they play in our long term well being. After reading over one hundred-fifty comments to the blog on the Caregiver Space Facebook page, I saw an...
Grief: loneliness, some things aren’t meant to be
Five years post Annie’s death, I still can’t accept what I know I must. The loneliness just hangs around me like a fog. Although the darkness has subsided, I feel like I’ve been wandering in overcast skies now, for what seems like an eternity. And...
Combating the loneliness of caregiving
Do you have a social network? Sure, as we get older some friendships naturally fade away as our priorities shift and who we are changes. Caregiving really speeds up that process! Combating loneliness Reach out to friends you’ve lost touch with We have tips for how to...The Caregiver’s Survival Network Talks with Sean Seepersad, Creator of the Web of Loneliness
While getting his Master’s degree, Sean became interested in people’s Internet usage, especially in times of loneliness.
Caregiver Survival: Loneliness and Embracing Connection
When talking with a friend about our feelings, we freely admit happiness, readily speak about worry, and perhaps pause before professing sadness – but we dare not mention concerns of loneliness.
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