Archive for the ‘Elderly Problems’ Category

The Female Equation: Boomer Grandmother and Her Influence

Friday, October 16th, 2009

byb-movie star-blonde girl-dreamstime_2211149[1]

This series of articles from Boomer Yearbook explores the fascinating and varied behavioral patterns that occur when families are affected by outside events, or by the impact of second and third marriages; the dangers and coaching solutions concerned with ‘spoiled’ children and the hurdles that must be addressed for family newcomers: Boomer Yearbook’s Guide and Coaching Strategy for the baby boomer generation.


Psychological Articles and Coaching Tips for Baby Boomers to Avoid/ Alleviate Elderly Problems

 by Boomeryearbook.com

 

Boomer Grandmother is a formidable figure and certain baby boomer grandmothers born in the late forties might have a daughter who is also a baby boomer, born in the sixties. Elderly female baby boomers display an interesting influence through the family line and manage to exert a significant amount of control, both on her boomer daughter and also on her granddaughter.

Baby boomers born in the forties to poorer families were subject to a certain amount of hardship. For many, this meant leaving school early to earn a wage, helping to raise younger children in the family and generally tending to obligations in a serious and diligent manner. Their standard were carried over to the next generation and some of the boomer mothers born in the sixties grew up as ‘latch key kids’ – the children who arrive home from school to an empty house and have to fend for themselves and younger brothers and sisters because Mom is working.

In the fifties and sixties, the World was recovering from the effects of World War II but there was also an element of moral rebellion taking place, which eventually led to the freedom of spirit celebrated in the late sixties and early seventies. Baby boomers who are now mothers of teenagers brought their children into a culture of liberty rather than discipline. Psychological articles from the schools of Attachment Object Relations, and Positive Psychology, note that the children produced by baby boomers of this generation enjoy increased freedom and a degree of excess in terms of material possessions.

byb-mother attachment chart Jan

Aging baby boomers have sailed through a World of radical changes and learned to embrace new technology. They have also, to an extent, learned to let go of their prejudices and accept new family structures previously seen as unorthodox at best and immoral at worst, such as unmarried couples; unmarried mothers; children in one family having different fathers due to the mother’s once considered ‘promiscuous’ personality; gay relationships and a host of other structural permutations that might once have been ‘taboo’.

Psychological articles from the schools of Attachment, Object Relations, and Positive Psychology, that examine the relationship between aging baby boomer women and their female descendants bring some interesting observations to the surface. The aging boomer female can be a scary character but seems to soften significantly when in the company of her female grandchild, who might enjoy certain privileges withheld from other family members. The reasons for this might be linked with the grandmother’s neglect of her own daughter: she transfers her affection to the next generation, ‘starting over’ with a clean slate. She feels her daughter resents her so gravitates to her granddaughter.

The development of extreme affection between a boomer grandmother and her granddaughter might often damage the relationship between the grandmother and her boomer daughter. The casualty at the center of all these swirling emotions is of course the boomer daughter, caught between the disciplines of the last generation and the liberties of the next; a reluctant passenger on a tide of emotions that pass between a controlling and influential aging/elderly lady and the spoiled object of her affection – the granddaughter.

The Psychological Article on The Female Equation: Boomer Grandmother and Her Influence is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

The Second and Third Wives Club: Accepting Your Son’s New Wife

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

byb-woman asian with red feathers-dreamstime_7561707[1]

Psychological Articles and Coaching Tips for Baby Boomers to Avoid and Alleviate Elderly Problems

 

 

 by Boomeryearbook.com

 

 

These series of Boomer Yearbook’s articles explore the weird and wonderful structures that can happen within families of second and third marriages along with the psychological dangers and coaching solutions to giving preference or spoiling some children who have enjoyed longer/closer familial associations (i.e., daughter’s children closer to the grandparents than the son’s, etc), and the difficulties and joys of ‘newbie” blended relationships….Boomer Yearbook’s Guide to Yours, mine, and ours coaching strategy for the baby boomer generation.

 

 

Some men go through life attached to one partner or wife and some actually remain in unhappy relationships to please family traditions. Others behave as though their real ambitions lay in owning their own harem. Baby boomers who strive for secure family structures despair of sons who habitually change partners, hurtling from one divorce to another at breakneck speed. Some get engaged and then break off the engagement so often, their parents barely have the time to learn the name of their new fiancée before they are onto the next!

byb-Relationships -Jan Boomeryearbook

The difficulty is in the fact that these men have chosen to make a formal commitment to each woman but do not actually take the relationship seriously enough for it to last. Perhaps the ring on the finger is the incentive for regular sex, or the man yearns for the secure routine of having a wife or long term partner at home but chooses partners too casually for a long term commitment to work. Psychological articles from the schools of Attachment Relational and Positive Psychology analyze the relationships men with multiple partners have with women and find generally that the men are emotionally inadequate in some way that undermines their ability to enjoy a long standing relationship (i.e. read commitment phobic).

Whatever the reasons, baby boomers with philandering sons must somehow make the best of things and the only way forward is really to take as casual an attitude to their son’s relationship as the son himself. Certainly it can be painful to get to know a daughter-in-law and become fond of her over time, only to have her ‘removed’ from the family circle through divorce or separation.

The problems that arise as a result of this kind of behavior might be far reaching and a series of failed relationships can bring about a pattern of events the son feels helpless to change. As the son begins to feel emotionally ‘numb’ through so many failed alliances, he begins to dabble in even more casual sexual encounters and might ultimately stay single as a result of his inability to conduct a successful love life with a long term partner.

Baby boomers with a healthy and affectionate marriage might often feel they have ‘failed’ their son somewhere along the way and begin to question the way they raised their children in general. Psychological articles that explore the logic parents apply when their children behave unacceptably observe that often, such men are the products of highly efficient parents. Their expectations are therefore somewhat unrealistically high when they enter new relationships, expecting the same level of care from their new partners that they enjoyed from their mother.

Baby boomers in a situation where their son has a number of failed relationships behind him might find an in depth conversation with a professional psychologist helpful when trying to approach a solution and form a strategy on how to deal with multiple partners in their son’s private life. ‘Minding your own business’ is sometimes less than productive is such instances!

Attachment Theory of 'The Self'

Attachment Theory of 'The Self'

The Psychological Article on The Second and Third Wives Club: Accepting Your Son’s New Wife is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Remembering to Treat Grandchildren Equally: The Pitfalls

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

byb-Relationships -Jan Boomeryearbook


Psychological Articles and Coaching Tips for Baby Boomers to Avoid and Alleviate Elderly Problems

 by Boomeryearbook.com

These series of Boomer Yearbook’s articles explore the weird and wonderful structures that can happen within families of second and third marriages along with the psychological dangers and coaching solutions to giving preference or spoiling some children who have enjoyed longer/closer familial associations (i.e., daughter’s children closer to the grandparents than the son’s, etc), and the difficulties and joys of ‘newbie” blended relationships….Boomer Yearbook’s Guide to Yours, Mine, and Ours coaching strategy for the baby boomer generation.

 

Grandchildren, as most baby boomers will confirm, are one of life’s special blessings. Some grandchildren, however, are more of a blessing than others – sad but true! Do we treat some grandchildren differently to others? Of course we do! Do we admit it? Of course we don’t!

The children of daughters are often a little closer to the maternal grandparents, usually due to the way they are raised by the mother. Conventionally, a mother takes all her child rearing skills from her own mother, although of course there are exceptions. It is quite common to see some conflict between the maternal grandmother and the son’s wife where the raising of the grandchildren is concerned. The clashes are easy to spot.

For baby boomers who raised their children on a strict bedtime routine, it is hard to watch grandchildren being allowed to roam about the house until midnight ‘freely expressing’ their desire to interact with adults late at night. Women who have a talent for maternal skills might take a stern view of a daughter-in-law who allows her children to wear soiled clothing or skip school or behave rudely in public. In contrast, the problem might be the opposite – a mother who is super-skilled, making the grandparents feel inadequate and ineffective.

Psychological articles from the schools of Attachent Relational and Positive Psychology that study the relationships between in-laws point out clearly the conflict that might prompt the grandparents to treat one set of grandchildren differently to another. Baby boomers who spend a significant amount of time childminding might certainly be closer to those grandchildren than the children of another son or daughter, who perhaps live further away.

Attachment Relational Psychological Model of 'The Self'

Attachment Relational Psychological Model of 'The Self'

For the children involved in this human dilemma, difficulties arise when the two sets of grandchildren are given the opportunity to meet in the company of the grandparents; a situation which happens at perhaps Christmas time or Thanksgiving. Children are both perceptive and reactive; they notice instantly when their experience of a grandparent is different to that of another child. For baby boomers in this kind of family structure, it is easy to fall into a trap where they can be accused of favoring one child more than another.

The best policy is to treat grandchildren equally at every opportunity. Psychological articles confirm that although a closer relationship to a child living nearer to their home is unavoidable, common sense directs that other grandchildren can be easily included. This does not mean spending large amounts of money on gifts and treats but rather spending time getting to know the grandchildren one rarely sees.

It is important to treat children equally and at an early age if they are to feel valued and have a solid relationship with their cousins. When such situations are handled in a sensible manner, a deep and long lasting friendship can develop between the younger members of the family, whether they meet only once a year or have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis.

The Psychological Article on Remembering to Treat Grandchildren Equally: The Pitfalls is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Letting Go of Your Son: Learning to Love Your Daughter-in-law

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

byb-Relationships -Jan Boomeryearbook

Psychological Articles and Coaching Tips for Baby Boomers to Avoid       and Alleviate Elderly Problems

 

by Boomeryearbook.com

 

These series of Boomer Yearbook’s articles explore the weird and wonderful structures that can happen within families of second and third marriages along with the psychological dangers and coaching solutions to giving preference or spoiling some children who have enjoyed longer/closer familial associations (i.e., daughter’s children closer to the grandparents than the son’s, etc) than others, and the difficulties and joys of ‘newbie” blended relationships….Boomer Yearbook’s Guide to Yours, mine, and ours coaching strategy for the baby boomer generation.

 

 

Female baby boomers who invest a great deal of time in their families have a tendency noted in psychological articles to experience difficulty in ‘letting go’ of their sons – more so than when waving good bye to their daughters! Analysis shows that when women have to part with their daughters, they feel a certain amount of regret and might miss their daughters for a short time but nothing like the heartbreak they experience when their sons become attached to another woman such as a girlfriend or wife.

The pain some women feel when their sons become involved with another woman can be intense. This pain has to be dealt with in some way and unfortunately, some women cope by ‘targeting’ the object of their son’s affections – i.e. the girlfriend or wife, whom she sees as her ‘enemy’ and her rival for her son’s love. This attitude might be deluded but it is nonetheless a powerful and destructive emotion that can lead to serious cracks in the relationship between the woman, her son and the son’s new partner. Matriarchal baby boomers sometimes have a problem with relationships that are outside their close family circle and see their son’s new ‘alliance’ as disloyalty.

Oddly, a daughter’s introduction of a new partner might not have the same impact on the matriarchal figure; possible due to her belief in her ability to retain a certain control. She will naively view a new man in the family as an unlikely challenge to her authority.

Certain areas in the matriarchal role are ‘sacred’ to self respecting baby boomers. Those areas include the ability to produce meals for the men in the family and the confidence to remain unchallenged: watch the fun when the son of the family compliments his new girlfriend or wife on her ability to produce a tasty dessert! It is about being ‘knocked off one’s perch’ by the usurper and the feelings that can be produced when this kind of behavior is going on can be both painful and hard to control.

Psychological articles describe such behavior as ‘defensive’ and in fact the person concerned often has no idea of how silly they are being; their reactions to such situations can cause chaos in the family structure and lead to long term grudges, with each member of the family taking sides with the son, the son’s partner and the mother.

The difficulties that arise when a matriarchal figure challenges the affections between her son and new daughter-in-law might be avoided if the mother can achieve a friendship with the son’s new partner. Although genuine affection might be out of reach, it should be possible to at least agree to a ceasefire until a peace treaty can be negotiated. Baby boomers with this kind of problem invariably opt for putting some distance between the mother and daughter-in-law, to allow emotions to cool before trying to appeal to the mother’s better nature – albeit, not always successfully!

The Psychological Article on Letting Go of Your Son: Learning to Love Your Daughter-in-law is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Favoritism: The Damage that Can be Caused and How to Repair It

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

byb-Relationships -Jan Boomeryearbook

Psychological Articles and Coaching Tips for Baby Boomers to Avoid and Alleviate Elderly Problems

 by Boomeryearbook.com

These series of Boomer Yearbook’s articles explore the weird and wonderful structures that can happen within families of second and third marriages along with the psychological dangers and coaching solutions to giving preference or spoiling some children who have enjoyed longer/closer familial associations (i.e., daughter’s children closer to the grandparents than the son’s, etc) than family “newbies”, and the difficulties and joys of ‘newbie” blended relationships….Boomer Yearbook’s Guide to Yours, mine, and ours coaching strategy for the baby boomer generation.

 

We all know what it is like to feel a deeper emotion for one person than for another. Sometimes that person is a friend or even a family member. When that person is an adult, it can be hurtful to be the ‘less favored’ one: when that person is a child, real damage might be inflicted and this can have a permanent, long reaching effect on the child’s emotional health. Psychological articles show that baby boomers are as susceptible to human failings as anyone else and ‘favoring’ one child over another should be noted and stopped at the earliest opportunity to avoid a long lasting effect.

The problem is: do we know we are doing this? Are we aware that our adoration of, say, a son over a daughter or vice versa, might be ruining the childhood experience of an innocent child? Psychological articles from the school of Realtional Psychology tend to suggest that we are actually aware of our ‘favoring’ affections for one child over another, and that we do actually admit to them when questioned whether we love one of our children more than another – followed by an anxious assurance ‘Of course, I would never let them know…’ This reassurance is an empty and insincere platitude and in fact, children are usually well aware that a brother or sister is ‘favored’.

The pain that might be felt by a child when he or she discovers a brother or sister is ‘loved more’ is beyond the experience of adults lucky enough to not have been subjected to such cruel treatment. The child loses his or her sense of self worth; experiences doubt about their own abilities; gradually loses closeness with the parent and ultimately loses trust in that parent. It is all about loss. As baby boomers our childhoods are somewhat in the distant past but we all know how it feels to be ‘marginalized’ and made to feel less than someone else in the opinion of someone we love.

A child’s trust in a parent is all encompassing and when children are very young, below the age of ten, information is absorbed in ‘sponge like’ fashion. Rejection at this age can color a person’s self esteem for the rest of his or her life. The preference for one child over another might seem quite discreet to the person doing the favoring but the unpleasant truth is that most children are perceptive and intelligent and know when they are being overlooked in any way.

Baby boomers sometimes extend their preferences to their grandchildren, perhaps enjoying a closer relationship with a daughter’s children over the children of a son. The reasons for this are actually quite easy to analyse. A daughter will likely take her mother’s lead in the raising of her children; therefore a son’s child will probably be closer to his wife’s parents. Baby boomers make an effort to treat all grandchildren equally but some fail to make the grade, leaving one or more children feeling left out in favor of the children who either live nearer or are the children of a daughter rather than a son.

The Psychological Article on Favoritism: The Damage that Can be Caused and How to Repair It is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Re-living the Nightmare: Flashbacks and Why They Occur in Older Age

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Post Traumatic Combat Flashbacks

Post Traumatic Combat Flashbacks

Psychological Articles on Elderly Problems by Boomeryearbook.com

Life events that occur can include happy experiences but also things we would all rather forget. Being part of or even witnessing a traumatic event can affect us throughout our lives, recurring to haunt us when we are at our most vulnerable. Baby boomers who are old enough to have war experiences, for instance, might find they are distressed by flashbacks in older age, despite being trouble free for decades.

Some aging baby boomers find that upsetting events that occurred in childhood, such as the death of a parent, returns with vivid imagery in later life. Some of the events that scar human beings might be the death of a beloved pet or an act of cruelty. A child’s phobia can have a long reaching and permanent effect causing elderly problems in later life, despite being kept at arm’s length throughout many years immediately following the event that caused the problem.

There are many psychological disorders that could be the result of serious emotional damage in early life or a traumatic event that has not been properly addressed. Flashbacks are often the warning signs that all is not well. Sometimes they are simply the result of feeling vulnerable following the death of a friend or partner; occasionally, the cause is more serious and will require professional counseling to overcome the problem.

Flashbacks might take the form of fleeting images, seemingly unconnected with the task at hand. Alternatively, they may recur only when the sufferer is indulging in a particular and perhaps mundane activity, such as sweeping leaves or washing the car. The study of psychological connections made by the mind is a precise science and one that is rarely achieved with any success by unqualified parties, however interested and well meaning they might be.

Flashbacks might take the form of quite pleasing and apparently harmless memories or they might be a nightmarish and lengthy experience not easily put aside or dismissed as daydreams. During early adulthood, when the pressure of a busy family and working life exhausts on a daily basis, flashbacks might occur rarely if at all. As baby boomers progress into retirement, however, the incidence of bereavement and emotional upheaval might be more intrusive and lead to flashbacks becoming more intense; less manageable. Increased spare time might also allow for deeper introspection and result in flashbacks increasing in frequency.

Behind most flashback experiences, there is a psychological reaction to a previous experience lurking. For many people, flashbacks continue until the day they die and are accepted as part of life’s strange tapestry. Others find flashback incidents too disturbing to ignore and eventually seek professional psychological help to deal with them.

Recurrent Nightmare of Trauma

Recurrent Nightmare of Trauma

Aging baby boomers experiences of flashbacks and their subsequent journey to eradicate them can be both enriching and enlightening, providing care is taken to consult with a qualified practitioner in psychology. Many psychological articles have documented that Somatic Experiencing Therapy or Cognitive Behavioral therapy can alleviate this elderly problem and is oftentimes a feature of a treatment program when dealing with flashbacks.

The Psychological Article on Re-living the Nightmare: Flashbacks and Why They Occur in Older Age is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Baby Boomer Food Insecurities

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Happy Family Meal

Happy Family Meal

Elderly Problems by Boomer Yearbook

Food is one of the staples of life. Without it we cannot exist, although some zero size teenagers have been known to try with disastrous results. Food can motivate human beings in a variety of interesting ways. Food is steeped in legend, fables and country tales; so much so that many of our modern day celebrations, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, are centered around our consuming of traditional foods.

Babies know only how to cry to attract attention when they are hungry: adults develop more inventive ways to deal with food issues and over the years, they also develop emotional insecurities connected with food. Baby boomers with food issues have usually developed them as a result of trauma. This trauma might be bereavement or divorce, separation or more commonly a long period of illness followed by insufficient convalescence.

Food insecurities can take different forms. An aging bereavedbaby boomer might develop habits that compel food ‘hoarding’. It is simply a reaction to being bereft emotionally: who will shop for my food? Who will cook my food? Will I starve? Human vulnerability dictates an increased food dependency where sometimes there is no practical need for worry.

Food issues can also have an opposite effect, leading the person to refuse nourishing food and only eat ‘junk’ or ‘pick’ instead of eating square, balanced meals throughout the day. Recovering convalescents often have cravings for ‘comfort’ food they enjoyed as a child, such as mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs; items they might not have enjoyed since nursery school days. For most convalescents, the desire to eat from childhood menus wears off eventually and is replaced by a normal appetite over time.

When Boomer has Food Issues

When Boomer has Food Issues

Illness can produce a delicate appetite and it is counter productive to insist a patient eats food they do not find in the least appetizing. Food has an emotional effect and being forced to eat can result in a permanent aversion, especially in children and aging or elderly people. Better to coax rather than insist and abandon the exercise if there is an obvious revulsion. Certain food smells can produce actual nausea and vomiting in someone who is recovering from physical illness. Heavily spiced foods can have this effect and it is advisable to stick with bland food choices for convalescents.

An interesting development sometimes occurs in baby boomers recovering from bereavement, whereby they elect to eat alone, despite invitations to join the rest of the family or to dine with friends. The act of nourishing has become almost ritualistic and something they stubbornly refuse to share with anyone following the loss of the person they shared a table with for so many years.

Trying to deal with this kind of behavior can be distressing for a concerned family but in time the person might come to the family table of his or her own accord, without being pressed. If a solitary eating habit persists after a few weeks, it might be a good idea to seek professional advice.

The Psychological Article on Food Insecurities in the Ageing Baby Boomer is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Boomers Non Smoking Nightmare: Gaining Weight After Dumping Cigarettes

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Boomer Non Smokers: Worried About  Gaining Weight?

Boomer Non Smokers: Worried About Gaining Weight?


Boomer Yearbook

Smoking is bad for you it is true. It is also true, however, that long term smokers tend to replace sweet snacks with their cigarettes. When the cigarettes are no longer a source of comfort, many reformed smokers turn to sweets and snacks to replace their smoking. Baby boomers might have been smoking for many years before making the decision to break the habit and some momentarily regret their decision to give up smoking when they realise they are putting on weight fast, especially women.

The urge to eat is perfectly normal after giving up cigarettes. It begins with the smoker’s special companion – chewing gum – and progresses to keeping a bag of sweets or potato chips or peanuts in the desk drawer at the office, or a bowl of chocolates on the table at home, just in case the urge to reach for a cigarette should grab the newly converted non smoker. Baby boomers have a special need as they are often retirees with more time on their hands, making them more susceptible to temptation.

The danger lurks in developing a sugar addiction on the heels of the smoking habit. Even worse, many reformed smokers suddenly return to cigarettes yet continue to eat sweets too, giving them two problems to conquer! The natural desire to eat more after giving up smoking is caused by a number of factors, the main one being that as cigarettes no longer crush a smoker’s sense of taste; the taste buds awaken and go crazy. Food suddenly tastes really good again so of course more food is eaten.

As more weight is gained, panic sets in; the reformed smoker begins a debate on whether the weight is doing more harm than cigarettes. Although it is true that excess weight can be harmful, it is doubtful that it will cause the serious illnesses that are proven to be connected with smoking. Naturally, baby boomers in the early stages of giving up smoking can always find a way to support the argument that giving up is ‘bad for their health’ in some way, buying into the idea that taking up smoking will somehow rescue them from a fate worse than cancer. It does not make sense of course, but addicts rarely do when it comes to finding a reason to stay addicted.

The worst possible scenario is when a smoking addict is faced with giving up in the presence of friends and family who are still smoking. Not only does the smell of the nicotine flavored smoke present a temptation, there is also the problem of having cigarettes readily available in the home. More sweet stuff is consumed to avoid caving in and reaching for the cigarettes.

A better plan of action is to tackle both problems at the same time by adopting a sensible program of diet and exercise. Baby boomers with a good social circle tend to find giving up smoking easier that those who spend a lot of time at home. Finding a way to occupy spare time is always productive, both for giving up smoking and also for resisting the urge to indulge in sweet snacks.

The Psychological Article on Boomers Non Smoking’ Nightmare: Gaining Weight After Dumping Cigarettes is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Boomers Conquering Insomnia: Things to Play With After Midnight

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

 

Boomer Yearbook

An inability to sleep can lead to a number of physical discomforts over time and eventually cause an emotional and physical lowering of resistance to disease. Sleep is the natural cure for so many disorders and the lack of it can make us stressed and exhausted very quickly. Aging baby boomers are in a particularly vulnerable group regarding sleep disorders and insomnia can be difficult to eradicate if it has been a long term problem.

One of the first things a typical sufferer of insomnia might do is resort to a sleeping pill. Aging baby boomers are among the worst offenders for dipping into old medication for a new disorder and will invariably try treating insomnia with a sleeping medication prescribed for an entirely different ailment in the past.

byb-insomnia-black woman-dreamstime_5871370[1]

A better way forward is to undergo a physical examination first, to see if there is any physical cause behind the inability to sleep through the night. Frequent trips to the bathroom in the night can be a typical sleep interrupter and might often be the forerunner of Diabetes, so a physical check up will help to put the mind at rest and might even be all that is needed to alleviate any underlying worry about physical health.

If there is no physical reason for the insomnia, the logical conclusion is that there is an emotional problem; perhaps a problem that is subconscious. The sufferer may actually be aware of why he or she is unable to sleep but at a loss to know how to overcome the problem.

On the list of things to play with when sleep eludes us is the television, but in fact watching a TV program can be over-stimulating, resulting in more sleep hours lost. A book is a better choice. Drinking coffee or tea before bed with a high caffeine content is always a bad idea: hot milk has a more calming effect, or a caffeine free herb tea is equally soothing. For baby boomers who tend to sit in a chair too long each day, some gentle exercise can help to stretch hours spent in sleep.

Organizing a healthy sleep routine is a good way to start when trying to cure insomniacs. Early rising one day and laying in bed until ten the following morning can upset the balance of rest and activity. Baby boomers who get out of bed by eight thirty each morning and endeavour to be in bed before midnight enjoy a better sleeping pattern. Try to fit social events around sleeping hours, rather that the other way around: as aging boomers are less able to cope with a broken routine. Cut out napping and go for a gentle walk instead.

 

Boomer Insomnia

 

 

Make a note of the sleeping pattern and the hours spent awake. If no improvement is noted over a few weeks, it is best to seek psychological advice rather than continue to suffer from lack of sleep, as there may be an underlying emotional problem best dealt with professionally.

The Psychological Article on Conquering Insomnia: Things to Play With After Midnight is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

signup

Smoking and the Baby Boomer. Why Stop Now When the Damage is Done?

Friday, October 2nd, 2009
It's never too late for boomer to stop smoking

It's never too late for boomer to stop smoking

By Boomeryearbook.com

Smoking is a sensitive subject for smokers who have tried to give up cigarettes and failed many times. Nobody likes to admit they cannot do something and an admission to being unable to give up smoking is no different to any other human reaction to failure. Baby boomers who are veteran smokers over many years might have tried and failed on several occasions to bin the cigarettes but annoyingly end up ‘back on the cancer sticks’.

People who have never smoked struggle to understand where the attraction is in filling your airways and mouth with evil smelling smoke and then drawing it into your lungs where it can do further damage and deposit lethal tar. The fact is: when many baby boomers began smoking, it was not only acceptable to smoke; it was actually quite ‘cool’ and fashionable. Women actually took lessons on how to smoke sexily! Movie stars who smoked and could look through the smoke into the camera lens with a smouldering, sexy expression were idolized and admired, such as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Any woman who lights a cigarette nowadays is greeted with “Ew, must you do that in here…?”

"Glamourous" Young Boomer Woman

"Glamourous" Young Boomer Woman

In the baby boomer years, smoking was sociable and sophisticated. No cocktail party would be complete without the requisite pile of cigarettes on offer, probably presented in a novelty holder, and every coffee table in the room would be groaning under the weight of overflowing ashtrays and onyx table lighters. Now, however, polite guests go outside to smoke, in all weather…! Today, hospitality is considered to ‘not count’ where smokers are concerned.

As smokers get older, they convince themselves, incredibly, that if they are going to get cancer they will already have it so why bother giving up now? This is the addict talking, of course, and no matter what age you are when you give up the result will certainly be to improve health and prolong life. From the moment that cigarettes are cut out, health and general well being begin to recover.

For smoking addicts, giving up cigarettes means a change in lifestyle. For people who have never smoked, it is difficult to see why a smoker cannot relax on the telephone or enjoy a cup of coffee without a cigarette in their hand. Suddenly it is necessary to find something else to do with the hand that once held a cigarette. And it is quite common for a sugar addiction to follow a smoking addiction, as the addict turns to another vice for comfort.

Giving up cigarettes is a plus for everyone, including baby boomers. For seasoned smokers who have smoked for thirty or forty years, it is hard to break away from cigarettes but there are help groups everywhere, as well as clinics to provide acupuncture, hypnosis and psychotherapy to help kick the habit. One of them is sure to hold the key to smoke free lungs for the boomer in your life!

The Psychological Article on Smoking and the Baby Boomer. Why Stop Now When the Damage is Done? is part of Boomer Yearbook’s continuing series of baby boomers psychological coaching tips and how to alleviate elderly problems. We believe knowledge is power. We’d love to hear what you think.

 

 

Boomer Yearbook is a Social Network and Psychological Articles for Baby Boomers. Connect with old and new friends, or expand your mind and ward off senior moments and elderly problems with dream analysis and online optical illusions and brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join other Baby Boomers to stay informed, receive weekly Newsfeeds, and let your opinions be heard. Baby boomers changed the world. We’re not done yet!

 

 

signup