Retirement and Life Transitions These are my parents before the Penang Bridge Run - they are semi-retired. Mum goes backpacking in third world countries and dad goes cross-country dirt-biking in secondary jungle. When my dad bought his dirt bike, somebody asked him whether he was too old to be going on adventures like these, then he asked the person back - so how much older do you want me to get before I start going on adventures like these? In my occupational therapy work I see many people whose health problems cause them to slowly go into some kind of forced retirement while still mentally functional and capable. They become withdrawn and slowly fade away from life activities without realising it - and they end up spending all their days staying at home watching TV and generally being very irritable about everything. This is most common seen in elderly people after stroke (if you have elderly relations who have gone through a stroke, compare their lives before and after stroke and youll understand better what I am talking about). But it can happen to people in their 20s, 30s, 40s too - people who are in the prime of their lives. My question to such clients is typically If you live up to 70 or 80, do you want to spend the rest of your remaining 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 years like this? If not, then these people are a prime candidate for occupational therapy. Most people dont realise that rebuilding a life after a health catastrophe takes a lot of deliberate effort. Most people dont even realise its important, and this is where an occupational therapists expertise comes in. :)
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 06:32:31 +0000