Retirement Stigma Keeps Older Adults out of Counselling

Retirees are battling anxiety, loneliness, and identity loss in silence, even though, as Philadelphia-based therapist and writer Michael Shelton puts it, they “are struggling needlessly due to the stigma associated with counselling”.

Writing on retirement and mental health, Shelton says that “up to a third of people who retire find the transition either stressful or notice a decline in their well-being. An additional 10 to 25% experience difficulties in adjusting to retirement, including mental health complications.” He warns that unstructured time, loss of identity, relationship strain, sadness, loneliness, and problem drinking or gambling are common features of this difficult adjustment.

Shelton reports that many older adults struggling with their mental health first lean on “friends, family, and religious organisations” for help and only then turn to a medical doctor. A further barrier is misunderstanding. He notes that “many adults have misunderstandings about the process of counselling; they believe counselling consists of focusing on the past (e.g., relationship with one’s mother) and report they do not ‘believe in therapy’, thus already predicting its ineffectiveness without even trying it.”

The deepest obstacle is shame. Shelton writes that research has “found that older adults expressed embarrassment about seeking counselling as well as worry about what others would think of them. Many stated that people close to them would consider them ‘weak’. Others assumed ‘that seeking professional help would be equal to or even worse than not seeking any help at all.’”

Shelton urges those who are not coping to consider either a retirement coach or a mental health professional and reminds readers that “[r]etirement is a process, not a singular event”.