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Editor’s Letter- Patricia den Boer
PHOTO: LORRAINE BRAND
MAKE-UP: CHERYL A. CROSS
Are you approaching
retirement with motivation
or consternation?
Don’t you just love this time of year? That feeling
of anticipation, that something good is about
to happen. Getting ready for summertime
involves preparing the garden,planning trips and family
visits,splashing a fresh coat of paint on your house.
And best of all, we all come out from hibernation and
begin to greet each other again.
Like summer,retirement is a new beginning.And,
whether you’re soon planning to retire or are already
well in the mode, you’re probably making the same
lists as the rest of us: new hobbies to try, new volunteer
(or paid) careers to explore, new friends to rediscover,
new fitness programs to try out or different
places to visit.
I don’t have to extol the virtues of staying active
as you get older.That’s what we do in every issue of
Fifty-Five Plus, and have done so for the last 20 years.
But there are a few activities that research has proven
will keep your joints working in top shape better than
others.Walking is one such activity.No,I’m not talking
about that stroll after supper to help digest your meal.
I’m talking about a regular regime that you commit to
at least three times a week, a routine that you eventually
realize that you cannot do without.Walking is the
type of activity that takes very little equipment, but it
does take discipline if you are not used to walking on
a regular basis. Recreation departments and programs
for older adults in your community have some of the
best free programs to help guide you through the
process of learning how to walk properly.
Half the battle in staying active is our mental state
of mind. If we approach retirement a little less prepared
than we should be, then there are other illness
that might be of concern. Mental health disorders,
such as depression,bipolar disorder and anxiety,affect
men and women differently. In addition, your gender
can affect how you experience these disorders —
how you react,which symptoms you feel most prominently,and
whether or not you seek help.The statistics
are not what you might expect.For example,although
the general public tends to associate post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) with male war veterans,
women are actually twice as likely to experience
PTSD.Also,while nearly twice as many women as men
experience depression, depressed men are less likely
to seek help. Men are more likely to report irritability
and loss of interest in daily activities than feelings of
hopelessness and despair, according to the National
Institute of Mental Health. Lingering stigma that associates
mental health disorders with weakness can also
prevent men from seeking professional help. Men are
also more likely to report the physical symptoms of
depression — headaches, fatigue — to a primary care
physician than to visit a mental health professional.
Since travel is also something that most retirees
put on their to-do list, Fifty-Five Plus brings you two
fun ways to explore our area — whether you want to
spend several days in the car as our travel writer,
Yvonne Jeffery did when she explored wonderful
Whistler — or stay closer to home and wind your way
through the back roads of your community with our
eye-teasing Day Trip destinations.
The big news is that our May issue has several
thousand more readers of Fifty-Five Plus. With this
issue we launched into the Greater Toronto area,
increasing circulation to 100,000.A great deal of planning
and hard work has paid off. So in addition to
being all over the Ottawa and Kingston regions, you
can now look for us across the GTA.
We do our best to bring you all the information
you need for a happy, healthy and comfortable retirement.We
also know that from time-to-time you want
to tell us what we do well and where we can improve.
The most important person for a magazine is the reader.
Your views and opinions about what you find in
these pages are vital.With this being our 20th anniversary
year,we want you to tell us what you think of the
magazine.Flip to page 99 and fill in the questionnaire.
Who knows, if you fill it in, you might just win something,
too.
What’s more is that our publication is now
online. Check out www.coylepublishing.com to
browse the current and previous issues.
Enjoy this issue!
May 2008 • 8 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
editor@coylepublishing.com