Have you lost a spouse recently or in the past? If so, keep reading. This blog is written in respect of the lost souls and their loved ones. Being a widow or widower in the world is a staggering statistic of 258,481,056 in the world with 584,574,358 children (including adult children) according to this article. The article also concludes that 1 in 7 of these widows is living in extreme poverty. India has become the largest country of widows at 46 million women. North Africa is a tough area as well for widows because of the Syrian war and conflicts. Something has to change. We can’t change the fact that their spouses have passed away. Maybe we can focus on empowering them and demonstrating our love, kindness and digital support if we cannot afford to fly and fix their situation.
This blog is about educating widows and widowers about depression as well as their families. The goal is to empower women and men who’ve lost their loved ones to continue living a life of purpose and to continue having hope because they’re not done yet. You’ll be reading some of what science says, what my personal experience and perspective tells you and be provided some practical solutions to move towards your own happiness if being a widow or widower or family member resonates with you. I also include some fun Giphys to keep the mood light as this is obviously a very sensitive subject.
Hopeful Secret #1: Know What Depression Looks Like For Widowers and Widows.
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According to The Oxford Journal and the National Institute of Health, younger widows/widowers have a harder time bouncing back. This is really a concern in India where young marriages occur and where the most widows reside worldwide. Women seem to have a greater disadvantage as well because of societal norms. ⠀
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What questions or ideas do you have? ⠀
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I’d love your insights and questions in the comments below.
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Hopeful Secret #2: What is the global prevalence of depression in widows/widowers? ⠀
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According to this article by SpringerLink, widows and widowers tend to be affected by depression up to 5 years from loss. It’s greatest the closest to the event of losing their spouse.⠀
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They do recommend keeping a close eye and support for the following 5 years after loss similar to cancer treatment and the 5 year mark post surgeries and medications/treatments.
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Hopeful Secret #3: Know What causes depression in widows/widowers.
Know What are some practical strategies to help empower them to move towards their own happiness.⠀
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Possible causes could be just extreme loss over losing your spouse, chemical imbalances, genetic predispositions. ⠀
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Some possible solutions? ⠀
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Encourage them to go on a walk or hike with you and talk about what’s going on. ⠀
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Or maybe shoot some hoops. ⠀
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My dad’s best friend Tim lost his wife Rebecca 8 months after my dad passed away. ⠀
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He lost his best friend and hunting buddy and his wife of over 30 years. ⠀
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He decied to go to a spouse grief group to connect and talk with other people that lost their spouses. ⠀
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He encouraged my mom to go to one too and I hope she goes sometime because I worry about her. ⠀
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Other options might include some medication prescribed by your doctor.⠀
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What are some other ideas to help support widows/widowers to find healing and happiness? I’d love for you to tweet me your response to this with a screenshot of the blog title so I know you read it.
Move Happy Updates:
The Move Happy Movement Podcast© is in full swing! Together we are bringing awareness to mental health, providing practical strategies to empower those with depressed states to move towards their own happiness. Tomorrow I’ll be releasing episode 39 with Saul Markowitz. He owns his own PR firm and has for over 20+ years. His current client is Cirque Du Soleil. He is a very funny man, husband and father to a child with an auto immune disorder. He also plays hockey 🙌. You do NOT want to miss that episode (available on iTunes by 6p CST every Sunday “Move Happy Movement“). Thank you to all current 496 listeners. If you love what value I’m bringing, please be so kind and write a review for me on iTunes to help spread awareness for mental health.
The Move Happy World Tour Experience 1.0© is in full swing for later this fall October 9th-10th! This is a live event we will be hosting at the Ryman Auditorium or The Opryland Hotel. We’re getting budgets together for the Board of Directors meeting. There will also be a fun 5k run somewhere in Nashville proper, a mid-day educational symposium for medical practitioners & an exclusive VIP dinner for celebrity attendees. Currently I’m building out the sponsorship package and negotiating rates with The Ryman & other venues since I am donating 100% of all profits outside of the cost to run the event (building costs, insurances, hiring of staff, marketing, VIP dinner, etc) to my non profit partner John W Brick Foundation. We haven’t signed paperwork yet but they know that I’m giving them all the profits to keep their research going 😊. Paperwork will be signed once I hear back from the Ryman & other venues and the city for permits for the race.
I chose this foundation because they are funding research in alternative methods that support mental health (like yoga, cold water therapy, etc) and Victor is a keynote speaker in over 25 countries, Lynne is a RN and fitness enthusiast. It made perfect sense! They are the embodiment of role models for mental health. Especially since I worked in a psychiatric hospital and saw the $100/mo budget split between 15 staff for the patients and the lack of knowledge in fitness and positive psychology by the staff. I created a program to help add value to my patients because of their kindness. The Brick Family’s organization funds programs and research just like what I created for my patients but on a global scale to impact more hospitals and people 🙌. They’re giving money to universities to change the world guys! I’m so grateful I found their flyer at the Planet Fitness Gym before I moved to Nashville!
I worked first hand in a psychiatric hospital with $100/15 people/month to contribute to my patients. I didn’t make enough money in this role but didn’t care because my patients deserved better and I had the skills to provide them a better fitness program than what they were being provided. When it turned out to be a big hit with the patients and enough of them said, “Erin you will be sharing this with other hospitals won’t you?” I had to figure out a way to do so.
This event is the first of an annual event that my team and I will be organizing around the globe to bring awareness to those with mental health and provide practical strategies and stories to empower them to live a life of happiness; whatever that means to them. The more research I have been doing globally, the more I am realizing countries outside of the USA need our support. I was googling the top 10 countries where the #1 death is suicide and the statistics are staggering. Some of the top 10 have 1 psychologist for the entire country. 1 😳. No wonder deaths are so prevalent there! They NEED our support and I am putting my time and resources to make sure this is an annual event to continue the progress of ending the stigma and providing a place of hope for even just 1 percent change to occur. My lifetime goal is to be able to live off of 10% of my income and give 90 percent of my resources to make the world a better place. This is one of those ways I plan to do so.
Hopeful Secret #4: If you’re a widow/widower or work with widows/widowers that have depression, I’d love to give you a gift. ⠀
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You can either download 1 free copy or purchase 1 free copy for yourself. ⠀
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Any more than that please email me for permission to erin@themovehappy. com first as this is my business and I poured my 💜 into this for my patients. ⠀
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I designed this 📓 for adult patients in a live in psychiatric 🏥 that helped me through the tough time of losing my father. ⠀
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We journaled together on topics related to happiness and had 5-10 minute group discussions then we worked out together. ⠀
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87% of my patients were men and spread the word about my group around the hospital, and one of my patients lost his wife to cancer a few years before we met and is one of the strongest reasons why I am sharing it with you today! ⠀
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He literally told me, “Erin I will see this on TV and You Will Be Sharing It With Others” 🤣 . ⠀
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Okay yes sir former US Marine! ⠀
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I’m thinking it’ll also be helpful for you. ⠀
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For a free copy of the journal sign up for my email list and it’ll be given once you sign up here.
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The rest of the emails are geared more towards mental health practitioners so if they don’t apply to you, feel free to unsubscribe. ⠀
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However, if you ever think you’d be interested in information related to children with depression and future topics with Move Happy Family, keep yourself on the list for updates in the future. ⠀
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All that I ask if you do download the journal for free ($19.99 value) is that you share something you learned from it on social media with a few sentences to help spread the word & tag me in your post so I can see it. ⠀
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Hopeful Secret #5: Know What are some signs and symptoms of depression in widows/widowers.⠀
According to this WebMD article depression in the age of elderly 80-84 is twice as likely to commit suicide than the general population. 😬 Sleep deprivation is a major concern for depression in elderly. They might present themselves as cranky instead of sad too. Use active listening and remember that they suffered a loss of their spouse and might be showing that pain as anger or frustration or withdrawal.⠀
So there you have it folks. Depression is prevalent in widows and widowers but it’s not the end of the world for them. There is hope. They can get involved in meet up or church groups with others going through loss. They can do something with their bodies like take on tennis lessons or go for walks in the neighborhood. If their depression is really rough, they can seek treatment from psychotherapy or psychiatry. If you are a loved one of a wife or husband that has lost their spouse, I encourage you to take the knowledge of this blog and do one small kind act towards your family and friends that are widows and widowers. I guarantee it’ll make you feel better and it will definitely make that person feel better if you aren’t weird about it haha😂. Be your authentic self and know that you matter and so do they.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today
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