Clinical psychologist Deanna Pitchford looks at the problems we may have when we lose connections with people. She notes that the problem is so severe that the UK now has a Minister for Loneliness. But this is a worldwide problem as we lose a sense of community.
Various studies around the world show that loneliness and social isolation are becoming serious problems. The statistics in Australia—sometimes called the ‘Lucky Country’—should give us pause.
The bad news is that a legacy is what you leave behind when you die. The good news is that your legacy is something that lives on after you’re gone. The question for us in the retirement zone—facing retirement or in it—is, how can we carve our name on hearts? It starts with family.
Yes, your brain is communicating to you all the time, but the problem is that you control your brain’s thinking. So, how can your brain tell you anything?
Work plays a huge role in our daily life, and the loss of the ‘substance and challenge of work’; the relationship with colleagues; the place to go to work; and the daily routines can ‘leave a gaping hole, causing people to wonder, with so much new-found spare time, whether they matter anymore’.
The inaugural Grey Nomad awards were recently held on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Established to recognise regional excellence for travellers over the age of 55 years—through communities, tourism operators and events—the awards created quite a buzz.
Graham Long is a hero. He’s the CEO and pastor of the iconic Wayside Chapel in Sydney’s Kings Cross. It’s a place where he sees life, as he expresses it, ‘from the gutter up, rather than from a university or Parliament House down’.
‘Everyone has a grievance story, yours may be killing you’. That’s what a psychologist friend of mine, Dick Tibbits, says after his study of forgiveness. In simple terms: Unforgiveness destroys relationships.
People need people. That’s true in all types of situations. And the evidence is that when it comes to brain health, we do need people—social connections.
I was once dragged along on a week-long community service trip called STORM Co—meaning Service To Others Really Matters. It was organised by my wife for a group of 20 or so local high school students. It wasn’t that I was opposed to the idea of community service, but I say ‘dragged along’ because my […]