Senior Citizens and Stress
By Mahasin D. Shamsid-Deen
Chicago, IL

 

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 

“Showing honor to a grey-haired Muslim and to one who can expound the Qur’an, but not to one who acts extravagantly regarding it, or turns away from it, and showing honor to a just ruler is the part of the Glorifying Allah.”

• Abu Dawud, Book 42, Hadith 4825-Sahih

The importance of senior citizens in Islam can never be emphasized enough.  These are our pioneers and our trailblazers. We love and honor them, and it is incumbent upon the community of believers to collectively take part in their care.

In our communities, often our seniors appear to be at ease and satisfied with their life. In fact, studies have shown that seniors report better mental health compared to younger adults because they have developed the skills over time that regulate their emotions, afford them complex and critical thinking abilities, and they have learned to balance portions of their lives.

However, the fact that seniors report less mental health issues does mean that none are present. Senior citizens experience stress and anxiety over physical changes. These include feeling more tired; reduced appetite, or even health issues like recurring pain or discomfort, mobility issues, impaired hearing or vision, and more life-threatening diseases like coronary artery disease or diabetes.

Besides physical concerns, seniors may have increased anxiety and stress due to situational challenges. For instance, although typically seniors look forward to retirement, many are stressed over the sudden amount of unstructured time on their hands.  Seniors may feel anxious over their financial future or fear unchecked Covid transmission. Some may have reduced interaction with their children who have grown up, finished college, married, and moved away. In some instances, seniors may even find themselves as caregivers for a spouse or even an older senior. As expected, seniors experience the most stress with the loss of their elderly spouse, family, and friends. Living alone can increase feelings of isolation and stress over an unpredictable future.

In the Muslim community, the issues most senior citizens face is compounded by their ethnic or national background. An African American or Hispanic senior citizen may feel a sense of déjà vu with the reduction of civil discourse and liberties in the present political climate, which evokes anxiety of loss of privilege, safety, and progress.

Muslim seniors who have migrated to the US or Canada from other countries also have increased anxiety as they age. They may stress over health and finances, but they may also have feelings of homesickness, guilt, regret, or uncertainty of their choice to move to another country, fear of political changes that negatively impact their status or isolation from others of their national or cultural backgrounds.

According to the National Institute of Health, from 1975 to 2005 the population of immigrants worldwide doubled, with nearly 56 million moving to European countries and over 41 million moving to North America. As these people moved away from being working-age immigrants to retired immigrants, their circumstances and stressors increased significantly.

As community members, we must develop resources to not only respond to the needs of our senior citizens, but also recognize when stress and anxiety are present.  Stress can present itself in various ways. The most typical are:

• Change in eating habits – overeating or eating significantly less
• Irritability – usually exacerbated by isolation or anxiety of the unknown, or being overwhelmed by too many changes in their lifestyle
• Sleeping pattern changes – trouble falling asleep or interrupted sleep, indicating that the senior is not comfortable, anxious, or too stressed to get recuperative sleep
• Increased illness – physical signs of stress are manifested with body aches, pains, easy susceptibility to colds and the like
• Mood swings – the senior may demonstrate sadness or even depression by talking less or moving from one mood to another without cause
• Memory – stress and anxiety can impair concentration and increase forgetfulness of names, places and normal everyday occurrences
• Poor judgement in spending habits or decisions

Although these symptoms and manifestations may seem daunting, the key for family, friends, and community members is to stay in contact with seniors. The human being responds to care and attention. If you suspect that a senior is experiencing more stress than they can effectively handle with prayer and human contact, you may always recommend medical intervention.

As we interact with the seniors, we want to make sure they are eating a balanced diet, that they get out and get some sun, that they get out and visit and socialize with other people, take walks, have opportunities to volunteer or just be heard. We can also assist by volunteering to help with strenuous tasks like yard work or grocery shopping. Surely, every deed of help and respect that we give to the seniors in our community is a good deed and is a major part of pleasing Allah, The Most High.

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