What exactly is retirement depression and stress?
Many of us spend a lot of time picturing the ideal retirement: whether it’s traveling the world, spending more leisure time with family and friends, pursuing plenty of hobbies like painting, gardening, cooking, playing golf, fishing, or simply enjoying the freedom to fully relax and take it easy for a change in scenario.
Even if we tend to give lots of thought to planning for a series of financial aspects of retirement, we often overlook the psychological impact of retiring from work. Technically, escaping the daily hustle and a long commute, workplace politics, or even a difficult boss, for instance, can seem like a huge relief.
But for many retirees, after a few months of novelty and being on a “permanent vacation”, the charm wears off. They start missing the sense of identity, meaning, and purpose that usually comes with having a job, the structure it gives to their days, and even the social aspect of having co-workers.
Instead of tapping into a state of freedom and relaxation, you might end up depressed, aimless, and completely isolated. You could grieve the loss of your old life, be completely stressed about what you’re going to do on a daily basis, or even worried about the toll that being at home all day is taking on your personal relationships.
Some brand-new retirees could experience mental health issues like clinical depression or even anxiety. The truth is that no matter how much you’ve waited for it, retiring from work is a huge life change that could also bring a lot of stress and depression.
Moreover, some studies have linked retirement to a decline in health. One ongoing study also found that retired people, especially those in the first year, are 40% more likely to experience a heart attack or stroke than those who keep on working.
Even if they might have some difficulties adjusting to retirement that are directly linked to how much they love their job (it’s definitely easier to give up on a job you hated), there are a couple of additional steps you could take to cope with the stress, depression, and many other common challenges of retirement.
Whether you already retired and you’re now struggling to adapt to change, planning to make a transition soon, or simply facing a forced or early retirement, there are a couple of healthy ways to adjust to his beautiful new chapter in your life and make sure your retirement is both happy and rewarding.
The challenges of retirement
Whatever your circumstances might be, ending your working life is a huge adjustment. Some might say it’s for the better, others would enlist a series of unexpected and difficult ways. If your job was somehow exhausting, unfulfilling, or it left you feeling burned out, retiring might feel like a huge burden that has been suddenly lifted.
But if you enjoyed working, found it gratifying, and even helped you build a social life around your career, it’s very hard to let it go, and rightfully so. Things can be even more difficult if you make a ton of sacrifices in your personal or family life just for the sake of your job.
Alternatively, if you were forced to retire before you even felt ready or went through a series of health issues, it might be a bit harder to adjust.
At the same time, it also depends on your general outlook on life. For example, if you always try to keep a more positive and optimistic viewpoint on life, you will probably handle the change way better than if you would if you’d be more inclined to worry or struggle to cope.
A list of common challenges of retirement:
- inability to “switch off” from work mode and enjoy leisure time, especially in the first weeks or months of retirement.
- feeling very anxious when it comes to having more things on your hands, but less money to spend.
- finding it hard to fill the extra hours you have now with meaningful activity.
- losing your identity; if you’re no longer a doctor, teacher, designer, salesperson, electrician, or driver, who are you really? (this might be among the questions that you ask yourself after retiring).
- feeling completely depressed and isolated without the social interaction of being around your coworkers.
- experiencing a decline in how useful, important, and self-confident you really feel.
- adjusting your routine or keeping your independence even if now you spend your entire day with your spouse at home.
- feeling guilty about receiving money from a pension without directly working for it.
Whatever the current challenges you experience, the following tips might help ease this transition, reduce stress and anxiety, and help you find meaning and purpose in life.
Embrace change
Even if it’s an inevitable aspect of life, coping with change is definitely not easy. The older we get, life seems to change at a faster pace. Our kids leave home, you lose a big portion of your friends and loved ones, and your physical and health challenges are starting to become harder to bear.
It’s normal to respond to these changes with mixed and conflicting emotions. But in the same way you transitioned from childhood into adulthood, you can also make the transition from work to retirement. Start by adjusting your attitude.
Think of retirement as a journey rather than a destination. Allow yourself some time to figure everything out, especially since you can always change direction when needed. You can also adjust your attitude by focusing on your gains, rather than the things you are losing.
Also, focus on building resilience. The more resilient you get, the better you will be able to cope with challenges such as retirement. You can also improve the qualities of resiliency at any given age. They will help you keep a healthy perspective when life gets rough.
Seek social support
Who says you should go through challenges by yourself? Many people go through similar things, but they accept the presence of a support system in their lives. Reaching out and sharing the burden might help ease the stress and bolster your coping skills.
Invest in and strengthen your social network. Staying socially active might have a huge impact on your mental health and happiness. However, for many of us, our social ties are directly linked to our jobs, and sometimes, they’re abruptly cut short when we retire.
That’s why it’s so important to stay in touch with old work colleagues after you retire and be open to opportunities that would broaden your social network beyond work.
Find new purpose and meaning
For some of us, working is way more than just earning money, because it also adds meaning and purpose. If you’re lucky, your job makes you feel needed, productive, and useful. It provides a series of goals or simply gives you a good reason to get out of the house every day.
Having a purpose in life also fulfills a series of biological needs, helping to keep your brain and immune system in good health. After you retire, it’s very important to look for new sources of meaning, especially activities that add a lot of joy and enrich your life.
In this matter, it also helps if you’re not simply retiring from something, but also to something, whether it’s a fulfilling hobby, a volunteer position, or continuing your education.
Now, we can’t let you leave without showing you this amazing audible audiobook: “The Rewire Retirement Method: From Aimless to Amazing“, by Cyn Meyer.
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