Chapter One: Why Am I So Blue?
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• How your feelings about getting older can affect getting
well from depression
• Aging and stress: Why these two factors can put you at risk
for depression
• How do you know if it’s depression? Causes, symptoms
and how you can avoid dangerous outcomes
• Recognizing your symptoms: If you can’t see it, you
can’t fix it!
• “I’m not crazy!” Your fears about mental health
can keep you from getting the help you need
• Taking charge of your own recovery
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Chapter Two: Your First Steps to Recovery
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• Why you must set goals to get better
• How having a “coach” can improve your chances
• “What good will it do me?” Why you might resist
getting started and how to combat self defeating attitudes
• Goals that other older adults have used successfully to feel
better quicker
• How taking action now can help build your energy, concentration
and motivation
• Make a commitment to your health and recovery
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Chapter Three: Get Up and Go! Why Social Connections are so
Important
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• Why you must have social connections to feel good
• “I’m too old to make new friends.” How to
spot your own fears and negative attitudes
• “I have no way to get there” Facing the barriers
that are standing in your way
• People Power: How you can hook up with others in your community
and all over the world
• Older adults: You are a vital resource in your community
• Finding what you need in your community
• Designing goals for you to get out there now
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Chapter Four: Master Your Thoughts and Build your Self-Esteem
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• “Has my attitude always been this bad?” How negative
thinking and depression go hand in hand
• How your negative thoughts can damage your self-confidence
• How your negative thoughts can impact your most important
relationships
• Personal competence and self-esteem: your independence can
feel uncertain as you age
• What is self-esteem? Learn to understand and rate your own
self-esteem
• “I don’t want to be vain!” Learn the difference
between good self-esteem and having a big head
• Goals to build your confidence and challenge your negative
thoughts
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Chapter Five: Coping with Grief and Loss
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• Season of loss: How aging intensifies your grief
• From numbness to tears: the many different ways that you
might experience loss
• How your grief can help you grow
• Taking care of yourself when you are grieving
• Is what I am going through grief or is it depression? How
to tell
• Goals to help you move forward from loss
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Chapter Six: Medications
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• Why should you consider medications?
• How are the newer drugs different from those you’ve
tried in the past
• How do they work?
• Alternative medicine-a safer alternative?
• What type of pill taker are you? Major pitfalls to avoid
when taking medications
• “But I’ve tried them all and none of them work!”
• Age and medication: Questions you should ask
• Goals for you to get the maximum benefit from medications
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Chapter Seven: Anxiety: You Can Gain Control
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• Depression’s old friend anxiety: How do you know if
you have both?
• “I just can’t stop worrying about everything!”
Know the symptoms of anxiety
• Do you have a little or lot of anxiety? How to measure your
anxiety
• Stress management: Special issues you face as you get older
• Build your toolbox: use as many different ways to gain control
as you can
• Unique techniques that have worked for other older adults
and can help you too
• Goals to improve how you manage anxiety
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Chapter Eight: Nutrition and Exercise for the Third Age
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• How getting physically fit will improve your mental attitude
• “I’m too tired to do all that!” If you want
to build energy, do more!
• Fuel for the body, fuel for the mind: maximize your nutrition
for the best overall health
• It’s never too late: simple exercise and diet tips for
older adults
• Goals to get your mind on your body’s health, not decline
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Chapter Nine: Mind over Medical-When Your Health Problems Are
a Barrier to Recovery
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• Accepting physical limitations so that you can move forward
• How physical limitations can impact hopelessness
• How do people do it? Examples of how other older adults cope
• How you can overcome depression and deal with common medical
problems such as:
• Incontinence
• Respiratory Problems
• Chronic Pain
• Mobility Problems
• Hearing and Visual Impairment
• Goals to increase your acceptance of limitations and enhance
your capabilities
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Chapter Ten: Keeping Yourself Healthy and on Track
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• Facing reality: Depression can return
• The active steps that you can take to improve your chances
of preventing a relapse
• Making a plan: Using goals to keep you on track
• The temptation to “take a break:” how discipline
can falter
• Focus on successful aging
• What is a therapist and how would it help me to have one?
• How does therapy work?
• “What should I talk about?”
• How to find the right therapist for you
• If you do relapse: how to be proactive and limit the damage
• Goals for relapse prevention and to help you get the best
results from therapy
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