ALTON – If you’re a senior citizen trying to cope with loneliness and depression, help is never far away at Alton Memorial Hospital’s Center for Senior Renewal.
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Janice Case of Alton was convinced that it wouldn’t work for her, but now she is happy to tell anyone and everyone about the help that is available. Janice and her husband, Warren, were married for 48 years until he died in the summer of 2018.
“I really became anxious and also depressed,” Janice said. “I had always been busy with work, but now I was retired and my husband was gone. I thought I could handle it myself, but I couldn’t.”
Case said she became “a mess” and visited the AMH Emergency Department on more than one occasion. It was during one of those visits that she was handed a brochure about the Senior Renewal program, which is part of the Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine at AMH.
“I didn’t think I was in that bad a shape,” she said. “I actually ended up in the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit for eight days. After that, I started coming for sessions twice a week.”
Case met with Montana Brown, a counselor in Senior Renewal, and soon began feeling much better about herself.
“At first, I didn’t think it would work,” Case said. “I was just a wreck. I had never had panic attacks before, but it got to the point where I didn’t want to go out anywhere by myself.”
Between sessions with Brown and also in group sessions, Janice started to come around.
“We talk a lot about coping skills,” she said. “Talking to myself is actually one of them. I’m so grateful for Montana, as well as Carolyn Wilkening and Dr. (Scott) Arbaugh in Senior Renewal. They have just helped me so much.”
“I have always been a fighter and found that sessions with Montana and the group gave me the courage to face and overcome some of my fears. Along with the coping skills I learned at Senior Renewal, I created a new one for myself called my ‘field trip therapy.’ I have gone to some of the places where previously I had a panic attack and was able to talk myself out of being scared.
“I have a wonderful support system of family and friends who have stood by me even at my worst. Along with them and the Senior Renewal program, I am getting my life back. The staff at Senior Renewal are great people. They care about you and will help you in any way they possibly can. They have helped save my life and I highly recommend this program.”
For more information about Senior Renewal and the Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine at Alton Memorial Hospital, visit www.altonmemorialhospital.org or call 618-463-7895.
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