If your care receiver has mobility issues or requires a great deal of assistance, staying connected socially becomes difficult. I hope you will make the effort to do it, though, because the distance between lonely and depressed can be very, very short.
My parents used to participate in a monthly pot-luck luncheon at their church. They stopped going when Dad could no longer manage the stairs. Feeling the need to be with people, Mom decided to invite all 24 members of the group to the farm for breakfast. She had a lot of fun getting prepared, but the big surprise was how much my dad enjoyed it.
She wrote, “Quentin was sitting with some particularly interesting people, and the expression he had on his face reminded me of how he used to look. She said, “It’s sort of like the feeling you get when you play golf and hit a really good shot. It feels so good, you want to do it again! I will be figuring out other things we can do so I can see that look again.”
If you don’t want to invite people into your home, visit a senior center. Get involved in a support group, or get your care receiver involved in an adult day care program. Being with people helps alleviate loneliness, and it will also help give you the energy you need to keep going.
