I feel so alone

[LyndaLu]

I recently spent an entire week over at my elderly mothers condo.
I slept over at her place and spent the week with her. I drove her
to her doctors appointment, I took her to the grocery store, I drove
her to the drug store and we went out to breakfast together.
We hung out together, watching television shows and reading
newspapers and magazines. We played her favorite card game
each day. My mother is basically a shut-in and she is on oxygen
24 hours a day. She is all alone. She is probably lonely and would
never say so. I am also lonely and I live alone in my own apartment.
I learned a lot during that week with her. I learned that doing
something for someone else is a great thing. I spent that week
keeping her company, giving her something to think about other
than her own aloneness that she lives through each day. So
many elderly people out there are all alone. Their families may
have passed away or moved out of state. Maybe they live in
a care center and have been forgotten. My mom will turn
83 years old in August and the older I get the more strength
I get from her. I hope I can be as strong as she is when I am
her age. I encourage anyone out there to visit an elderly
person and to spend some time with them. They appreciate
any time they can spend around people because they
may live alone and not have anything to do all day long.
Helping them and making them feel better may just do the
same for you, it may make you feel good about yourself
and keep yourself from being lonely too.
Lynda

[samcat]

LyndaLu,

This is a great post!! I love what you did for your Mom, and you are right, when you help somebody else, you feel better too. That is because we quit focusing on ourselves. Anxiety/depression is a very self-focusing state and focusing on others helps break the cycle we get trapped in, thinking about "woe is me", what is that symptom, how do i feel right now, etc. Good for you--you have learned a wonderful lesson. We live in a very isolating society, where everything is too speedy. Not that long ago, people lived in more contact with each other and had more social connection. They took time to really talk, not just email or text. I am convinced our more isolating, rush-rush society has caused a rise in anxiety and depression in the Western world.

[tina martin]

Sure agree here, though I tend to be a loner. Look at the Newsweek cover story of July 16th. It is just about what you mention. "iCrazy, panic, depression, psychosis." I have wondered how long it will take for people to realize what this is doing to them.

[samcat]

Yep, never relax, never unwire, or you might miss something is the modern motto. Unfortunately, I don't think people ever realize the toll it takes until their body finally whaps them over the head with something like anxiety, depression, cancer, an autoimmune disease--you name it.

[LyndaLu]

I used to have a cell phone. My phone bills were too expensive.
I got a land-line telephone instead. My life has been so much less
irritating since I got rid of the cell phone. No more endless text
messages. No more ridiculously high cell phone bills. Cell phones
have become such a distraction in our society. People are looking
at their phones all of the time, they are not looking at where they
are driving or where they are walking. They are at the dinner table
with the phone, at the restaurant with the phone, at their desk
at work with the phone. It has become an obsession. I am probably
in the minority and most people DO have cell phones, but I don't
plan on getting another one again in the near future.
PS: No one in my family owns a cell phone either. I guess we are
from the "stone age" !
Lynda