My advice is to get involved in things in your community. So many wonderful projects could use your help and it will make you feel useful and needed.

Can you or do you want to work part time?? Also are you into volunteer work, especailly in the schools, libraries, hospitals? Can you take fun courses in the adult HS, or is there a college near you? Do you do crafting, collect stamps (jut for fun), start a new hobby, re=do your flower garden, grow indoor plants, have a small fish aquarium, but the main thing is just don't sit there and watch TV. Are you into a church--but not too much. Can you convert your working skills for volunteering--like keeping books, typing etc.
Good luck

Well, it has been quite a while since you originally posted about going thru a depressed period. Hope things are going better now.

I recently retired and while I didn't go thru a depressed period, I did go thru a period where I could feel a "vacuum". I think this must be normal because if you've worked a long time (or even not so long time) on a regular basis, things are bound to feel strange when a major part of your routine is changed.

But what has helped me is that I do have plenty of other things to focus on. Introvert that I am, I also realize that it is vital that I get out and make sure that I have contact with people besides my husband on a daily basis if possible even if I think sometimes that I'm fine being by myself all the time. Sometimes it feels like a chore but I always feel better after I have made some extra effort to get in touch with an old friend.

Besides people, I think you need to fill the time you used to spend with your old routine of work with new routines, ones that you are pretty serious about following, not giving yourself too much slack. I have joined a gym. I swim everyday Monday thru Friday.

I also belong to two book clubs which I really like because they are free and they aren't fattening and the people are very interesting. It doesn't get much better than that.

Bottom line: keep connecting with old friends on a regular basis and try to figure out ways to make new friends. Find something that requires you to be somewhere at a certain time such as volunteering or set some goal regarding a hobby to finish a project by some time. I think discipline is important for keeping your mental state in good condition.

You know what they say, if you don't use it, you lose it!

Let us know how you're doing.

--Alice

I didn't retire, I was forced out due to the economy and it seems the world doesn't need an aging environmental education specialist, so 300 resumes later I have given up looking. I am very fortunate that my husband makes enough to support us although not in the manner in which I would like to become accustomed. I have been taking graduate level courses. I am studying Hebrew so that I can read the Old Testament in what is more nearly the original language. I am very busy with church and bookclub. I have books to read stacked up next to my bed. My neighbor walks with me every night before dinner. I spend lots of time keeping up with friends and relatives on email and instant messaging. I am really happier than I have been in a long time. I am free to help family members who fall ill.

My only frustration is that my offers to volunteer have been ignored. There appear to be too many volunteers for the number of jobs available. I am sure that is just a case of not knowing where to hook-up, but it is discouraging nonetheless. Friends have tried volunteering at hospitals and have found themselves in the volunteer room at the hospital with nothing at all to do. I don't think that volunteering is as easy as people assume. I was turned down as a museum docent despite years of experience as a research historian because my wardrobe was not up to snuff. I tried to volunteer at the local school, but I had to pay for the training and the background check and that just seemed wrong to me, particularly since I had worked all those years in education!! The local library never returned my calls or answered my email when I tried to respond to their call for volunteers. Hmmm, I didn't start this to be a rant, but I guess it is.

Try volunteering at a Nursing Home or Hospice. I know that the one where my mother was needed people to come in at mealtime to help feed not only the bed bound, but some of the others. It's quite a chore. It can be heartbreaking work, but needed. You can read to some of them that have poor eyesight too. Some of the non-profit ones may even need a hand with office work. Some of the poor souls never have visitors. A few minutes with some of them would be the high light of their week.

Any town that has a "Meals on Wheels" program for getting meals to shutins usually need drivers.

Keep looking, I am sure that you might find something that you can help with.