mental-health

Wrinkled Wisdom – Alcohol Is Not the Answer

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Why?  It just makes you forget the question.  We’ll drink to that!

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.  Yup.  We used to be able to put away a number of drinks.  Now our limit is two…with lots of water on the side.

If alcohol once made you feel fun and flirty but now makes you feel loopy, tired, and headachy, congratulations, writes a newspaper columnist—you’re probably getting old.

Makes sense.  Our alcohol tolerance decreases with age.  Our bodies contain less water and muscle mass, leading to a higher concentration of alcohol in our bloodstreams.   Our slower metabolism processes alcohol more sluggishly.  And, many of us take medications that don’t like to be mixed with liquor.  

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends we seniors have no more than seven drinks a week, an average of one drink each day, and no more than three drinks on any given day.  Responsible drinking?  Many of us will describe that phrase as an oxymoron.

Recent research underscores a troubling trend in alcohol abuse—a spike in late-in-life drinking.  While we are less likely to drink than younger people, we engage in binge drinking more often.  The numbers are up 65%.  Remember that Ernest Hemingway said he drank to make other people more interesting.  Maybe that’s the reason for that bingeing?

If you want to limit your alcohol intake, the National Institutes of Health wants to help.  Its experts recommend that you write down your reasons for cutting back.  We want to get a good night’s sleep!   Track your drinking habits for a week and then set drinking goals.  Hmm…that sure contradicts the Italian proverb—age and glasses of wine should never be counted.  Finally, they advise posting those goals on a piece of paper you walk by every day.  What?  NIH thinks we have memory problems??

We seniors, are demonstrating our smarts on the road.  Older drivers are less likely to drink and drive.  That’s positive because one research study shows that, for we oldies, even one drink can impair our driving skills.  

In the moment, having a drink may seem like a good idea.  The next morning, though, you might find yourself regretting that extra glass of wine.  We’ve all awakened after a night of drinking with headaches, nausea, or sensitivity to light and sound.  You could describe it as feeling old in the morning after you drink like a younger self.  

There’s a very interesting term for the morning after that describes hangovers that result in anxiety, irritability, and feelings of regret…hang-xiety.  Doctors don’t really understand why some people feel this negativity the next day.  They guess it’s because alcohol reduces the amount of REM sleep you get, which can make you feel anxious.  Or, because drinking dehydrates you, that can affect your mood.

Good news!  Sugar in the morning can help a hangover by raising low blood sugar levels.  Of course, doctors recommend natural sugars from fruit or honey, not highly sugary drinks.  Sugars move alcohol out of your system faster.  And, be sure to drink lots of water and have a boring breakfast.  

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today:  Space out your drinks and add ice to dilute them.  An afternoon nap probably provides the biggest bang for the buck.  Gulp down that sugar the morning after.  Heck, a Coke works for us.  Start the day with toast, muffins, or oatmeal.  And, if life gives you lemons, add vodka.  What the hell???

Wrinkled Wisdom – Oldies but Goodies

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Image of bees hovering around a sign that reads "Bee Nice or Buzz Off"

A Los Angeles disc jockey coined that phrase in 1958 to describe past rock ‘n’ roll hits that remained popular.  Today, it broadly characterizes anything old that is still cherished, valued, and enjoyable.  Think antique stores and consignment shops.  And, grandparents!  LOL

Recently, we focused on Gen Z slang to help us translate what the kids today are saying.  Then we thought: what about our Boomer/Silent Generation slang??  Lots of oldies but goodies!

The Silent Generation’s slang included keen… appealing…mentally sharp…a keen mind.  Scram…leave now!  Gam…a woman’s leg, especially in reference to its shapeliness.  If you were cruising for a bruising, you were looking for trouble.  And, square.  You know, someone who isn’t hip. 

The Silent Generation is also credited with popularizing the term “trick-or-treat,” although the tradition hit a major roadblock during World War II when sugar rationing made handing out candy nearly impossible.  

Don’t flip your wig, but Boomers also generated some great slang.  Televisions were called boob tubes, because many thought they were a mindless activity.  If we include all screens, that slang term couldn’t be more relevant today.  My bad continues to hang.  Mellow will never be outdated.  Listen to the Beatles while you chill out.  

Buzz off is a great way to ask someone who is always a drag to get lost.  Too bad if they are ticked off.  And can you remember the last time you got decked out in your best threads?  Maybe we’re not using the Boomer slang term groovy anymore, but everyone knows what you mean when you say far out, catch some Zs, bummer, or share that you are on cloud nine.  

Dictionaries add slang words to reflect how people are actually speaking at the time, usually slang that newly describes technology, pop culture, or social changes.  They ungraciously bump old, rarely-used slang and other words.  Our slang has had staying power!

We’ll give Gen Xers, now 45 to 60, credit for some creativity.  They used wicked to describe something awesome and impressive—not a movie or a musical.  They introduced as if as an expression of sarcasm, bite me, a retort expressing contempt or annoyance and dude.  One of our favorites from Gen X?  Gag me with a spoon!  

Millennials come next.  They coined bae as a term of endearment, now found   constantly in crossword puzzles.  They also popularized FOMO, an acronym for fear of missing out, and YOLO, which is short for you only live once.  Delete!

Got a kick out of the National Gallery of Art’s Instagram page featuring its 77-year-old deputy head of sculpture using Gen Z slang she recently learned to attract young viewers.  She stepped behind a 16th-century urn on camera and said, “Chat, I’m about to buss it down Roman Empire style.  Haters will say this urn is mid, but they don’t know we’ve clocked its tea.”  It worked.  One of her reels garnered over 2.1 million views in just three days.  Go, girl!  We, of course, have no idea what she was talking about.

Generation Alphas, now 16 at the oldest, have years to go to create their own slang.  However, they, along with younger Gen Zs, are responsible for 6 7.  The kids tell us it is already on the way out, thankfully.  However, you’re delulu if you think any Gen Z slang will last long in dictionaries.  Well, maybe doomscrolling?  

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Take pride that loads of our slang has been adopted into mainstream language.  Keep a list on your phone of your favorite fun slang.  Need that list since we all suffer at times from lethologica.  Huh?  You know… when you just can’t remember that particular word or name.  Add flair and humor to your daily conversations.  Keep our oldies but goodies alive.  Neato!  Right on!


PS: We’d like to give a shout out to the Australian Boomers who first introduced us to no worries.

Wrinkled Wisdom:  The Nighttime Bladder Battle 

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Most of us make a dash to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  It’s not a topic we bring up over drinks with friends.  So, let’s explore these annoying interruptions to a good night’s sleep.

Nighttime urination becomes more common after we reach 60.  It’s just normal aging.  The drop in estrogen after menopause is counterproductive for women.  Declining testosterone is counterproductive for men not to mention an enlarged prostate.  But most of us simply are the victims of a decrease in the hormone that reduces urine production.  If you want to show off, call it by its name—the Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH).  

But, if you get up frequently during the night to hit the john, you might want to head to your doctor.  Keep a bladder diary to share with the doc.  Huh???  Just repeating medical advice.   Announce that you have nocturia and need help!  The doc will be so impressed.  

There are loads of recommendations to fight the nighttime bladder battle.  A number of exercises can reportedly help by toughening the muscles that support the bladder, like pelvic tilts.  

Or, your doctor can prescribe a diuretic medication to help get rid of extra water during the day before you head to bed.  Many are available at the drug store.  Entertained by the one branded Water Shed.  LOL!  We were thinking the name well describes those embarrassing times when coughing, laughing, or sneezing cause unwanted leakage.  They sure can be watershed moments!

We had no idea that fluid in our legs ends up in our bladders while we lay flat sleeping at night.  Huh?  This can cause a full bladder just when we don’t want it.  Two solutions.  Wear compression socks during the day.  Or…elevate your legs before you go to bed and reduce that fluid accumulation in your lower extremities.  Heck, we’re happy to pile up the pillows and raise those legs while we’re watching reruns of our favorite old movies on TV or reading a great book!  

Not crazy about the recommendation that we restrict liquids for two to four hours before going to sleep.  Four hours?  No way!  That means if you go to bed at 11 p.m., you have to stop drinking at 7 p.m.  News alert!  Alcohol is a diuretic.  The more you drink the more you’ll pee.  Doesn’t that argue that having wine after 7 p.m. is a positive???

If none of these tips work, there’s always the last resort—diapers.  You sure won’t be alone.  One company predicts that over 16 billon adult diapers will be sold globally in 2028.  Overnight adult diapers designed for maximum absorbency are often called incontinence briefs or overnight underwear.  They are thicker and more absorbent than products for daytime leaks.  Check your Medicare plan.  A few step up and offer coverage.  No pun intended. 

Who knew there is an organization called the National Association for Continence? It provides some recommendations to improve nighttime toileting.  Bunch of people fall while making that run to the bathroom in the dark.  Feel relieved if you just bump into furniture and stub your toe.  The group suggests using nightlights and clearing the way to the john, noting that objects easily seen during the day could be a tripping hazard in the middle of the night.  Seven steps to the john is ideal!

An aside—the sudden urge to head to the toilet when you arrive home has a name, latchkey incontinence.  It’s a Pavlovian-conditioned response that is an automatic, learned reaction.  Obviously doesn’t have to be linked to the sound of a turning key.  Garage door incontinence is the non-medical term. 

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Hit the bathroom right before you hit the bed and pull the covers over your head.  If you get up in the middle of the night to pee, don’t drink anything while you’re up.  Use those nightlights especially when travelling.  Check out Botox injections for overactive bladders.  Google it.  Not making this us.  Oh, and if you have a dream about urinating, wake up…fast!! 

Wrinkled wisdom – Zoomers and Boomers

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Okay, Boomers, let’s learn more about Zoomers—our Gen Z family members aged 13 to 28 years old. 

Some easily stand out for their “broccoli cut” or “Zoomer perm.”  It’s that popular haircut that combines shaving the sides short and perming the long hair on top.  A fun internet trend highlights how fashion recycles older looks and jokes that Gen Zs have adopted their grandma’s curly perm style.  

Zoomers are the first generation to grow up totally in the digital age.  It’s often said that they could scroll before they could walk or talk.  A bit of an exaggeration.  But, over a third scrolled or touched a screen before they were one year old.  They are true digital natives!

Gen Zs are heavy users of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.  They utilize social media for entertainment, news, and product discovery.  They are the most likely to buy a new product or service promoted by an online influencer.  Another group that doesn’t watch TV ads! 

Zoomers, not surprisingly, have created a new lexicon that has invaded dictionaries over the last few years.  Thanks, lexicographers!  This helps us Boomers translate what the kids are saying.  Much of this slang will eventually fade…or could we just be delulu?

Huh?  “Delulu?”  It’s Gen Z shorthand for delusional.  Wishful thinking.  It might have a limited future, but we could be delulu about that.  “Bussin” is used to describe something that is exceptionally good or delicious. 

Another new slang word is “adulting.”  Gen Zs feel that they won’t be grown up until around age 27 because of financial and other pressures.  They take online “adulting” courses to learn traditional life skills like cooking, laundry, and managing personal finances.  They might also use the word as a verb—I am adulting today and not wearing my PJ bottoms to the mall.  Let’s face it, adulting is hard!  And Boomers have been there; done that.

Much more fun is “hard pass.”  We always appreciate an assertive NO.  While “rizz,” short for charisma, is cute, it’s hard to believe it was the Oxford Word of the Year in 2023.  This year it made it into Merriam Webster.  Who knew?  Not us! 

“Bed rotting” is the term for spending excessive amounts of time in—you guessed it—bed.  A slang term we can understand.  Yes!!!  “Sus” is just short for “suspicious.”  “Ick” made it into the dictionary.  Oh, but Gen Zs define this as a sudden loss of romantic or sexual attraction to a person.  Heck, we’ve been using it for decades to express plain old disgust.

Another Gen Z word to hit the dictionary is “doomscrolling.”  This describes their habit of spending excessive time on the internet scrolling distressing news or social media content that leaves them sad, anxious, or angry. 

There is a solution!  Digital detox.  When we hear the word detox, we thinkof it as steps toward recovery from alcohol or drug addiction.  They’re referring to social media detoxes because many of the generation are burnt out from scrolling.  To detox, some Zoomers have even turned to flip phones, which they call dumbphones, to minimize constant, distracting notifications.  Wow.  Does digital detox cause withdrawal symptoms??  Yup! 

Check with the kids on the 6-7 fad…Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year.  It’s not even a word!  It’s more than cool to Gen Zs and the bane of school teachers everywhere.  We dare you to uncover the meaning. 

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Because of how Zoomer’s use it, drop “ick” or “icky” from your vocabulary.  Stick to “ew” or “that’s gross” to express disgust.  Interestingly, Gen Zs are reviving lots of Boomer hobbies.  Propose helping them with baking, knitting, or vinyl collecting.  And, when they get excited by your offer, throw in some Boomer slang.  Like…Gee, no need to flip your wig!

Wrinkled wisdom – Sleep Tight, Wake up Bright

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Diet, exercise, and sleep are the three pillars of a healthy life, especially as we age.  Okay, we can choose to eat nourishing foods.  We can choose to go to the gym or take long walks.  But we sure can’t just choose to get a good night’s sleep.  If only!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than a third of U.S. adults don’t get the recommended seven hours or more of sleep every night.  We’re not alone!

Just walk into a drugstore and take a look at the sleep aid section.  It’s huge.  Options include Sleep-eze, ZzzQuil, Sominex, Kalms Night, melatonin, and more.  If they don’t work, doctors can prescribe Halcion, Restoril, Lunesta, Ambien, and Sonata.   Still not sleeping?  Explore functional mushrooms as seen on Shark Tank!

We stumbled onto an article headlined “simple things” to do to promote a good night’s sleep.  We like simple things so we read on.  First, avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol four to six hours before sleep.  Hmmm…the alcohol thing could be tough.  We’re limited to happy hour?? 

Next, set your heater or air conditioner at a comfortable temperature.  Okay.  Makes sense.  Avoid your cell phone, TV, and computer an hour before you are ready to go to bed.  Huh?  So, what are we supposed to do for that hour??   Brushing your teeth takes minutes.  Guess it’s time to read a book.  Maybe Meditation for Beginners??

Apparently, some people do better with a small amount of noise when sleeping.  You could run your ceiling fan or buy a white noise machine.  They are very, very popular.  Creating a soothing nighttime playlist is an option.  Your partner’s snoring obviously doesn’t count.  Are earplugs the answer to that snoring??   Maybe not!  They are one of the most common objects removed from ears in hospitals’ emergency rooms.

Another tip about what to drink when.  Forget the coffee, tea, or juice when you wake up in the morning.  We’re supposed to drink water first.  That is certainly easy to do while making the coffee or tea or pouring the juice.  And let’s face it, we are thirsty in the mornings because we don’t drink a bunch at night so we don’t have to get up and pee multiple times.  Chug some water first thing?  Good with that.  Doctors recommend adding some soluble fiber powder…if we can remember.

So, when’s the best time to stop drinking water at night?  Two hours before going to bed.  Take your vitamins in the morning.  Don’t flood your body with fluids at night.  You’ll really regret it.

As we all well know, waking up in the middle of the night to head to the john has become more common as we’ve gotten older.  There’s a reason.  Our bodies produce less of the hormone that helps concentrate urine and retain fluids.  Peeing during the night even has a name—nocturia.   Some clever individual made it up by combining the Latin word for “night” and the Greek word for “urine.”  

What about naps?  Experts say a short nap—less than 90 minutes—is okay since it’s a lighter phase of sleep, not that deep, restorative sleep that you should get throughout the night.  Yet it’s often so elusive for so many.

And, experts say we should wear socks to bed.  Nothing to do with keeping your feet warm.  Actually, just the opposite.  Why?  Sends a signal to your brain to lower your core temperature—a cue that it’s time for…sleep! 

Lack of sleep sure hits our vanity hard.  None of us want to look in the mirror in the morning after a bad night’s sleep.  A tired face boasts droopy eyelids, circles under the eyes, sagging mouth corners, wrinkles, and fine lines.  No, it’s not just aging!  

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Since sleep is our most important behavior, go for broke on a good mattress.  If you’re a “princess and the pea” type, sorry, you’re on your own.  In your next place, make sure the john is about seven steps from your bed.  You know why!  We wish you sweet dreams.  But putting that song on your nighttime playlist won’t help!   Oh, and remember—nightlights are your friends.