September - 2020

Successful Aging

A weekly syndicated newspaper column by Helen Dennis

After 18 years and more than 875 columns, Helen continues to delight readers with her Successful Aging column for the Southern California News Group. The syndicated column reaches more than 1.6 million readers weekly.

Successful Aging: How to deal with anxiety about fires, pandemic, earthquakes and civil unrest

I am in my mid-70s and have lived through a lot in my lifetime. I have never been so affected by change as now. I am afraid of getting the virus, fires, civil unrest, and even another earthquake. I live alone and am very cautious in venturing out. How can I get a handle on this? By nature, I am not an anxious person, but I am now. E.R. Dear E.R. It is understandable to feel anxious as we live through the most dramatic changes to our lives affecting how we live, work, learn, w

Successful Aging: There are ways to connect with grandchildren during the pandemic

Q. Before the pandemic, I was a physically active grandmother to three young grandchildren. Currently, I am extremely compliant with the CDC recommendations because of my husband’s compromised immune system. Some of my family members and friends are less cautious. Because I am not physically present, I feel passed over for those grandmotherly activities in favor of those who are less cautious. I’ve become the absent grandmother which is having a negative effect on my mental h

Successful Aging: Why do some people handle the pandemic better than others?

I have not been able to figure out the next three months of my life. During that time, the anniversary of the deaths of several family members will occur. Perhaps I am still grieving and the pandemic has made these previous losses just worse. And yet I know others have been able to take advantage of this time-out and are doing well. Is there something I can learn from them? H.N. Dear H.N. We are experiencing the most disruptive time of our lives. For many of us, it is a time

Successful Aging: The surprise on this Zoom call brought me to tears

Dear readers, This week I would like to tell you about a recent personal experience. I have worked in the field of aging since the mid-1970s. At that time, some thought “gerontology” was a skin disease specialty, something like dermatology. I was fortunate to make my career at USC’s Davis School of Gerontology where I had extraordinary opportunities to learn, grow, teach and contribute to this nascent specialty. During the past half-century, many exceptional people have been

Successful Aging appears

in the following newspapers:

The Los Angeles Daily News

The Daily Breeze

Pasadena Star News

Long Beach Press Telegram

Whittier Daily News

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Santa Barbara Sun

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Orange County Register

Redlands Daily Facts

Press Enterprise