Find Senior Care (City or Zip)
Join Now Log In
A
anonymous283806 Asked March 2015

How can I make my Mom feel not so old?

My happy, funny Mother has been there for me my whole life. She has always come to the rescue for me and my Son (34 lives PA). Now she says she feels old. She is 80 and just stopped working last year! She is very young minded and energetic. She worked full-time for SSA and was also an International Square Dance Caller. She was in the public eye for many years. Quite suddenly, every conversation we have is about how worried she is about money. She used to always wear make up and nice clothes. Now it is like she does not care. I tried to get her to go to a doctor for depression medication but she will not do it. She went from a beauty to a beast. Always hounding about money. Any suggestions about how I can make her feel, 'not so old'?

blannie Mar 2015
Have you sat down and talked about her financial situation? Maybe discussing it with you would put her mind at ease. Does she have enough money to live on?

Her concern may be coming from a cognitive decline. My mom has no short-term memory and can't remember that she has enough money to last her in comfort. So she intermittently frets about it. Talking about money in detail may give you a view into your mom's cognitive thought processes and whether her fears are reasonable. If they are reasonable, maybe you can come up with some solutions. Please keep us posted on how things are going.

freqflyer Mar 2015
How about volunteer work? My parents use to volunteer at a local hospital until they were 88 and 92 at the front information desk, which they loved doing. In fact, once they retired from that, I took over their Saturday morning shift :)

ADVERTISEMENT


BarbBrooklyn Mar 2015
You need to get her to a geriatric specialist. Not for depression. She's not going to cop to that. You need to get her in for YOUR peace of mind. "I'm worried about you mom. I need you to do this for ME."

ADVERTISEMENT

Ask a Question

Subscribe to
Our Newsletter