Serving Our Seniors Magazine

Mental Health: By Sue Daugherty Younger people and older people have something in common. The unwillingness to talk about mental health. For the 60+ population the problem is growing larger. According to the Center for Disease Control’s 2019 study (pre-Covid), “18.4 % of older adults experienced symptoms of depression. Women were more likely than men to experience mild, moderate, or severe symptoms of depression.” The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation reports that anxiety is often undiagnosed and is a common illness among older adults, affecting as many as 10%-20% of the older population. ( https://www.aagponline.org/ ) To put this into perspective, coronary artery disease affects 17.0% of adults aged 65 years and older. Mental health is a greater problem than coronary artery disease! Despite its prevalence, those who suffer with a mental illness don’t know they have a mental illness, or don’t want to seek a diagnosis – or both. Getting help for mental health problems carries an undeserved stigma. This stigma keeps retirees and young people from getting treatment and enjoying a high quality of life. In an effort to make it acceptable to talk about troubling thoughts and feelings, I had a conversation with two Erie County residents who want to share WKHLU VWRU\ 6SHFL¿FDOO\ KRZ XQWUHDWHG PHQWDO LOOQHVV had robbed them of health and happiness. Alphonso Darden, &HUWL¿HG Peer Recovery Specialist and Stacey Borsick, age 38, Executive Assistant, are proud to be associated with Erie Shore Network. Both understand mental health through their owned lived experience and are not ashamed to tell others that they are engaged in counseling. They spend time at Erie Shore Network and make themselves available to help others, who are struggling inside, with troubling thoughts and feelings. Both say when they help others it helps them to remain well. Stacey started mental health treatment at age 11, after her brother died. “I went, but I was totally against it. No one from school was going to counseling, plus depression and anxiety weren’t talked about in the schools.” At age 14, her step- mom and her father forced her to go to talk therapy again. She said, “They took me to this place, I sat in the room and I looked at her. I didn’t do anything.” Stacey had no explanation for what was responsible for her resistance to talk about her pain. She said, “All I can tell you is that you have to come to terms with it on your own. I can tell a person, all day long, that ‘you need help, you need help, you need help,’ but until that person is ready to physically accept the help that is out there, they are not going to use it.” Stacey Borsick Alphonso Darden and Stacey Borsick. 16