Lack of Energy and Depression

I often associate older people together with dragginess, but we all know older friends for which this complaint isn't true. I found that during my radiation therapy - six years after a prostatectomy - that I had a great deal of energy.  I even put up a storage building which included digging up ten bushes and their roots to level the spot.  Lately I have been lagged down and there appears to be no reason for this state of being.  I have reflected on this, and suggest the following hypothesis.  I think the reason is depression.  I have suffered the death of my brother and a number of close friends recently.  And I recall last month that, when we heard about a railroad accident that had occurred while a friend was driving a train, I said I hoped it wasn't another funeral. 

What I am getting at is, that at our time of life, many of our friends and relations are dying.  Then when we are nowhere through the grieving process for a first one, we are struck by another close death.  I have never seen the occasion of frequent deaths of friends discussed as a cause for depression and moping  in this context.  But I now think it is a major issue for us.  Especially since we are already coping with the serious deal of cancer.  And also, maybe, with cancer of a close other person.

Once we see that the cause of our lack of energy is depression, we can deal with it.  I have a friend, who is now cured of prostate cancer but has significant side effects from the therapy, but just lost his wife of 47 years to cancer.  He explained to me that he has trouble getting started on things he needs to do.  I told him that my solution was to just do the first step: get out the lawn mower, put out the hammer, whatever.  It isn't necessary to try to do the next thing right now, but then go ahead when and if you want to.  Another thing, that is of help to me when I am draggy is to walk.  In addition to taking the first step and doing minor exercise, I have started back on a project I have long put off and which will take many months.  I want to go back and study the problem of the fountain.  Look at the fountain at Austin College for example or at North Park Mall and note that the water column  shoots up and then falls back.  This action is repeated.  How to explain this mathematically, and for several different kinds of columns?  This most likely isn't your "thing", but how about wood carving of decoys or tuning cars or something fun that is also useful and challenging.

Remember the meetings are always on the third Tuesdays of every other month at 7:00 pm at the Senior Health Center on Calais Drive off Gallagher road in Sherman Texas, behind the TCOG Tower.

 Henri Plunkett

See you at the September meeting.  Jerry Bylander