Boomer seeks advice after retirement leaves her ‘lonely and depressed’

When people plan out their retirement they don’t usually expect post retirement depression. That’s the situation one woman has found herself in after retiring from her full-time teaching position.

Posting in online forum Gransnet, the woman said since she retired from work 18 months ago, she feels lonely, depressed and lacks energy.

She wrote: “I retired through choice, my career pension is good, everything should be good for me, but I feel lonely and depressed and totally lack energy.”

The woman said she does a bit of private teaching, volunteers at a primary school and goes to a music group once a week to keep her occupied.

“But if the rest of my life is to be like this, well not sure I can cope,” she added. “I am not one for joining groups etc. I get a local free magazine & look at the clubs etc every month but I see nothing that interests me.

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“It lacks purpose, I don’t know what to do. I feel that no one cares whether I get out of bed in the mornings or not. Please tell me it gets better,” the woman pleaded.

It seems many readers have been through a similar experience with their own retirement, with many adding it’s tricky at first to adjust.

“It takes time to adjust to retirement especially after a busy, rewarding job. Try and arrange one thing to do a day,” one commentator wrote.

Another wrote: “I think retirement needs a period of adjustment, it is hard to go from a full on, needed by everyone and in a prominent role type job to having loads of time.”

A third added: “Hi ..i know exactly how you feel! I retired same time and although i try to be busy etc its a lot of time to fill.”

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Others readers, however, said retirement is the best, with one writing: “From my point of view it is the best thing in the world, and I wish I could have done it when I was younger! This is YOUR time – I hope you find a way of looking at it in a positive light as an opportunity rather than an ending.”

What do you think? Do you enjoy retired life or do you miss working? What do you do to keep busy?

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your financial or legal situation, objectives or needs. That means it’s not financial product or legal advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a financial or legal decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get independent, licensed financial services or legal advice.