Welcome to Home Care Matters, the show where we discuss all things home care, with discussions on important age-related matters and topics.

Brought to you by Enriched Life Home Care Services, the number one rated home care provider in Michigan by Top Rated Local.

Hello. Hello and welcome back to all home care matters.

If this is your first time visiting us here at the show, we want to thank you for taking time out to be with us today.

We appreciate how valuable everyone's time is, and that's why we try to make each episode here at all home care matters, something that will hopefully matter to you. While the winter season brings us certain things we love, frosted windows, hot chocolate, Christmas lights, and cozy pajamas,

it can be difficult to stay cheerful through the shortened days in colder weather, especially after the holidays when the months between January and March feel endless without much to look forward to.

And with the pandemic's added limitations, this winter could feel like the hardest one yet.

For many, the winter blues can be downright paralyzing. For seniors, the stakes are even higher, as a lack of mobility limits their options even further.

According to Live Well, around 500,000 Americans suffer from seasonal affective disorder or sad.

Every winter, and older adults can be more vulnerable.

Seasonal effective disorder is a type of depression that comes with the season.

It's most common during the winter.

As stated in companions for seniors, winter can be mentally challenging for older adults.

It's easy to feel isolated due to the weather, brought down by the seasonal illness or left out during the

holiday season, which can all increase the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

To make matters worse, older adults are already at a higher risk of facing depression.

The CDC reports that 80% of elder Americans have chronic illnesses and often depression is missed by doctors

who assume that a senior sadness is a reaction to their illness. This makes it hard to pin down

an exact number of elderly Americans with depression. Livewell estimates, though, as many as

six million Americans older than 65 suffer from depression, and sad is

especially dangerous to a community that is already susceptible to depression.

Unfortunately, it's all too common for seniors facing sad to be overlooked by doctors and

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