A New Era

Good Bye Non-profit world, Hello Corporate America.

Gone are the days of my shallow commentary being followed by "its okay because I work for the American Cancer Society". That was my redemption; my scape goat. I could do no wrong in this world as long as I could back it up with my charity-girl status.

After a two and a half year career of 'saving lives', I am entering the for-profit world, Corporate America, the Rat Race. This means I must now actually go out of my way to do good things on the side so I can sleep well at night and retain my golden ticket I once so nicely preserved. After
all, it would be a shame if I had to go through my past posts and profile and delete all 't'is better to serve' quotes.

This is good, though. I must now prove to myself that not only do I talk the talk, but also walk the walk. I am committing, both privately and publicly, to do volunteer work for at least 10 hours a month. And WHEN I'm a fajillionaire, I will use my money to do good and help those causes I am deeply committed too such as caring for our elderly. The ones that are 'left behind' due to either economic status or even their own off-spring just not having the time.

Do you know that the elderly have the highest depression rate out of any other age group? I mean, you spend all your life living contently and taking care of others and right when you are nearing the finish line, you become sad and depressed. Shouldn't these be the happiest times; times of memories and recollection of those moments that made your life worth living?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/):

Older Americans are disproportionately likely to die by suicide.
-Although they comprise only 12 percent of the U.S. population, people age 65 and older accounted for 16 percent of suicide deaths in 2004.
-14.3 of every 100,000 people age 65 and older died by suicide in 2004, higher than the rate of about 11 per 100,000 in the general population.
-Non-Hispanic white men age 85 and older were most likely to die by suicide. They had a rate of 49.8 suicide deaths per 100,000 persons in that age group.

What Role Does Depression Play? -The risk of depression in the elderly increases with other illnesses and when ability to function becomes limited. Estimates of major depression in older people living in the community range from less than 1 percent to about 5 percent, but rises to 13.5 percent in those who require home healthcare and to 11.5 percent in elderly hospital patients.
-An estimated 5 million have subsyndromal depression, symptoms that fall short of meeting the full diagnostic criteria for a disorder.
-Subsyndromal depression is especially common among older persons and is associated with an increased risk of developing major depression.

Isn't Depression Just Part of Aging? Depressive disorder is not a normal part of aging. Emotional experiences of sadness, grief, response to loss, and temporary “blue” moods are normal. Persistent depression that interferes significantly with ability to function is not.

Two years ago, in a young women's mentorship program I participated in, we were assigned a project consisting of writing our own obitiuaries. It really got me thinking about the issues I cared for and the legacy I wanted to leave behind. I came up with "Friends of the Eldery", a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the elderly who otherwise would not have anyone to care for them. The organization would have a heavy focus on Nursing Home and Home care advocacy, Volunteer programs, Mental health, and medical rights. To this day, I still outline and plan this all in my head and one day when I am ready, I will undertake this project. It will start off locally and then develop into a national organization.

Below is a pic of my Mama Claire and Papa Bob. They lived a happy life full of love and family and made each other content by just sitting around watching Wrestle Mania and the Home Shopping Network together.Unfortunately, Mama died before Papa so he went through the sadness and heartache any man would feel after losing his life-long love. I wish were around more in Kentucky to help heal his heartache and cheer him up but I was too far and too young.

However, I am dedicated to making sure there are more volunteer and advocacy programs around in the future to help ease the the transitions we will all face one day. You wait and see.