Older adults
Once you reach the latter end of middle age, you can find yourself questioning your purpose in life. Some people embrace this time as an opportunity for renewal ,and the recapture of freedom. For these people, it offers the chance to reinvent themselves, and do the things that the responsibilities of jobs and rearing a family prevented.
For others, it throws up different challenges. Regret for things you did and didn't do, can become a burden. Retirement can leave you not knowing what your role is any more. How will you fill your time in a meaningful way? You may have lost people close to you. The prospect of ageing becomes real, and the future can feel bleak. A significant number of older people suffer from depression. You may look different on the outside, but inside, you feel the same as you did 30 years or more ago. Issues that may affect you could include:
- retirement
- bereavement
- loneliness
- declining health
- failing memory
- unresolved conflicts
- feeling diminished
- sexuality and relationships
- fear of death.
Many therapists believe that this is the ideal point to pull together different aspects of yourself, and learn to live authentically and fully. Talking openly with a non-judgemental person can help you realise that it is never too late for growth and change.