I wonder, MFASRF, if...
...you stumbled across the following (incompletely cited) in the last several hours and thought, "Gail will be e-ing me as soon as she sees this."

AP Raleigh, N.C. — Mildy depressed older women tend to live longer than those who are not depressed at all, a surprising new study suggests...Dan G. Blazer, a Duke University professor. "We know that depression in younger populations is very clearly associated with moraltity. It's not so clear in older populations."
    The results may support the theory that mild depression is a survival mechanism, he said...[and] a theory advanced by University of Michigan psychiatrist Randolph M. Nesse that says mild depression may allow people to cope more easily with their problems and remove themselves from dangerous or harmful situations...humans may need "low mood" or mild depression to deal with failure and disappointment.

    I have not yet looked up the study. Hold on while I see if the journal is available online, subscription free...well, it is, but the article is in the issue due to be posted May 15, 2002.
    Although I'm not sure how much my mother's low level depression is enhancing her longevity, I do know that she does not recognize it as debilating, so I consider this article encouragement that neither should I; or, at least, I should not worry about it as much. My mother does not consider herself depressed, or discouraged, which is her favorite word to describe what she recognizes in other people as depressed states. She also comes from taciturn stock and a taciturn generation. My father, of the same generation, was more pessimistic and agitated than depressed; but, also quiet about it, as quiet as an alcoholic can be, anyway.
    And, of course, I am sure the elderly that Dr. Blazer is studying are of my mother's generation. They are the only elderly around, right now.
    I can clearly see the difference between, say, my mother's 90 year old cousin who still lives alone in her own home in Iowa, and my mother. The cousin, while quiet, is less taciturn, more, well, willing to be light hearted, than my mother is. My mother has a sardonic streak that her cousin lacks. And, my mother is, as you have pointed out, "resigned, in the best sense of the word." Her cousin doesn't live in a realm where the possibility of resignation exists.
    And, your dad, well, I'm curious to see if the study sets forth any propositions about elderly men and depression. Your father is more than this, though. He is an example of someone who leads a successful depressive life-style, I think.
    I did, by the way, hear this last night but was too distracted to write. I remember hearing it on the 10:30 news before retiring. The newscast gave it a jaunty spin. It was mildly disturbing.
- posted by gail rae @ 09:15  0 comments   email...this post

 
To MFASRF: I am only half anxious to move up to Prescott.
    Mom is really enjoying the weather here. It isn't yet too hot for her. I am acclimating well, this year. My relationships here have been less, well, let's just say I've been more relaxed this year than last, which has made knowing me easier on my friends and relatives. So, I'm in no hurry to leave, although the book club crowd is anxious to see me, too. I'm essentially just hanging out, right now, enjoying the weather.
    I have to say, I made the right choices in restructuring my mother's portfolio. I also made all the right choices regarding taxes last year, and could have even been more brazen. MA has much more respect for my seat-of-the-pants intuitive financial management, especially since I agree, now, with him, that knowledge helps, too.
- posted by gail rae @ 10:55  0 comments   email...this post