"Alvaro" #04

"Look, my dear, it's a story that fills me with sadness, but it doesn't matter. My son kills himself, the eldest. My wife's diabetes accelerated her death. That's when I went downhill for a long, long, long time. I didn't want to live either. So, it's something I wouldn't wish on anyone. I don't know how to suffer. Because when those people leave, you remember everything you experienced with them, how badly you treated them, everything. It hurts a lot once they're gone, but it's already too late. I'm not talking about nasty fights or anything like that, no. But many times, you don't agree, and you distance yourself, but everything gets sorted out eventually. One way or another, things get resolved. Well, all of that happened to me, and I got very sick. Very sick. I didn't want to... well, even now, I still don't eat well. I got very sick. They had to put me in the hospital because of what happened with my wife and my son."

"Konnor" #18

He anticipates he will face more emotional and mental challenges as he ages. "I entertain sometimes no longer living just because of... the emotional mental and emotional challenges of life. Of Aging."

"Mercedes" #04

She talks about what it feels to be over 80 years old. "Well, sometimes I feel sad because I can no longer move, do what I used to do. I was a very, very busy woman, very... and then aging hit me, it came upon me and I couldn't do it anymore, I started to lose weight. My condition deteriorated and, well, now I feel sad because, well, I know that I am going to leave soon. That's it, but I've lived well. I don't need anything. I don't want any more with what I have, that's enough, that's enough and to spare."

"Mercedes" #06

"It's also very sad to be alone. Very sad. Even if you have a husband. It's very sad to be alone without children. Because one day your husband will go away or you will go away and your husband will be left alone, or your husband will leave and you will be alone because it will happen."

"Arthur" #09

He says he does not need mental or emotional support but has friends he can call if needed. "I have good friends.... I don't take advantage of them, but I know that if I had an issue they would be there. So, I feel comfortable knowing that I have people I can call upon if I was suffering emotionally, but I try to not get myself into a position where I have to depend on somebody.... I think that you can see that I'm somewhat eccentric, but I think that I am somewhat grounded in reality. It's very subjective, isn't it? But... I don't need any support. I'm pretty self-sustaining, so I don't need any emotional help. I don't need any mental help, at least at this point. I could be delusional."

"Jacqueline" #10

"Well, if I thought about [mental or emotional support], I probably would need it. I just don't ever focus on stuff like that. And, it'd probably drive me nuts if I started thinking about that. And then I probably would need mental health. But I don't think I need it. My daughter tells me I'm nuts anyway [laughter]."

"Jaime" #12

He would feel comfortable seeking mental health services but only for major problems that he can't manage himself. "If the problem is serious, serious, if many times it causes, how should I say? Mental tension, right? Then, I think that visiting a psychologist is a relief for the mind because you're going to a professional for what you can't handle yourself, and he can possibly give you a bit of relief with a consultation. So, well, that's what I think, but if it's not necessary, then I think you don't have to consult with someone like that."

"Konnor" #09

"I think social interaction is really important. I'm a pretty self-generated person, so I'm not sure what someone else could do around my own mental health. Doesn't mean I wouldn't be up to it, it's just that... I can't think of what [that] would be. I mean life could be easier, it could be. But... I gotta deal with it and make sure that I encourage myself to socially interact."

"Maxwell" #11

"I have issues and discussing openly, real in depth with people that do the mental health. If it was my best friend or somebody like that, I could tell them anything. But with people that I go to for that kind of support, I've just always been reticent and kept a part of me back. And it may be my fault for not letting that part go, or it may be a defense mechanism I just can't overcome.... I gotta click with the person that I'm going to. I've tried to go to different people, like I was recommended Social Security. Like five or six different people. I went to all those places. Either they weren't serving, they wanted to see me weekly, which I can't afford $50 every week. And you know, or they're not taking any other patients anymore. Yeah, it's hard to get like good mental health help. Oh yeah, especially under Medicare."

"Natasha" #07

It's hard to talk to older adults about mental health during screenings. "They don't like to be asked those types of questions, or they don't see the importance, or maybe sometimes they even feel bad that we're asking those type of questions."

"Darcy" #05

"I was in counseling when my mom and dad were both sick for quite a few years. And [my counselor] kicked me [to] the curb and then she'd go, 'Just call me when you need me'. And I'd call and say, 'I need you to tune up'. And I would go in and have two or three sessions and I'd be gone again and I'd call her back when I felt... I just didn't feel right.... And I didn't feel bad enough that I knew I wasn't feeling right. Because if you get too bad, you still think you're okay. I didn't get there, and then she decided to die on me. So I don't know. She was wonderful.... [So now] I'll have to figure out who to go to. Which is kind of hard in this town, there's not a lot of this. Because that's the downside of being in a small town. You sometimes have to leave your small town to get the care you want."

"Diana" #09

"I wish they had a place that... people that's older, that [have] health issues with the virus or Hepatitis C.... I went past all that. But they don't have no place out here that you can talk about that. No place."

"Jodie" #05

"There's a tremendous shortage of mental health professionals that are available.... There's a health desert in a lot of rural counties, here in Iowa too. I wish there was a way to have some sort of program available where whatever level of government would step up and say, 'We're going to pay for your last year, or two years, or three years of medical school. In exchange, you have to come to our county and put in so many years of service'. I think that would be a good solution for a lot of the health deserts that do exist. And the same thing with mental health. You know, the cost of education, and higher education especially, is so crippling that if there was something that was offered to help defray that cost, it would be a win-win. Both for the community that is getting the service... and the medical professional [gets] a little bit of that financial burden off themselves.... I know a lot of Southern... communities do it."

"Konnor" #04

"I have a friend... that was just diagnosed with cancer and just had surgery. And she organized... a whole group of women that... preparing her meals for her post, during the chemo.... And then obviously the kind of emotional support... and that's really going to be helpful to her. And she was kind of down going into the surgery, but more so going into the chemo, because chemo is just such a rough process." He acknowledges that this might not be his experience when he goes through prostate surgery. "Post prostate surgery, there are issues that I've got to deal with, and you know, women will do it like automatically, right?... They'll develop their own support groups, right? But men they don't. I think it would be really helpful if there was a network of support groups... for various cancers and... medical issues that men are gonna have to deal with."

"Melanie" #15

"Talk therapy never really helped me. It felt good when you [talked it] out for a little bit, but then you're right back where you are. So, there's so much more now. You can do emotional freedom technique online, the tapping. There's EMDR, that eye movement. There's so many other things that are so much more helpful for people to get over their anxieties, their fears, and things like that. And sometimes you just have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone.... When I mentioned it to a therapist... [they said], I don't know the emotional freedom technique. I said you don't need to know it. I have it right here. All you gotta do is do it with me. You know? 'Well, I can't do that'.... It's like frustrating. I have to do a lot of research and advocacy and you can't find a therapist. You cannot find a therapist that takes both Medicare and Medicaid."

"Eleanor" #03

"So, for the first five days after my husband had passed away, I couldn't let people come in the house. I'd stand on the porch, and this was in November, so we wouldn't talk very long, but if people pulled up, I'd come out and stand on the porch and talk to them. So, my mental health did start to worry me, and then I couldn't sleep. I mean, I was just worried all the time. Constant things running through my head. But now, they brought me into the church, and I'm not saying, I'm not super, super religious, but it does give me a lot more peace and calmness to be in the church, to have these people, knowing that they're worried about me. Friday, or Saturday, I was supposed to be up here at 12 o'clock, and I'm usually, usually, it's late New Day, but I'm usually pretty prompt. I was a half hour late, because I had run into problems doing my chores in the morning, and one of the ladies called me, and she said, 'Hey! You're usually here by now. Is something wrong? Do you need help or anything?' I said, no, no, I'm just running late. I said I'll be up there in a couple [of] minutes. That kind of stuff gives me great peace of mind. Knowing that these people are, they're keeping an eye on me. They're, they're more than just church people. They're my friends. They're my real friends. They really want to make sure that everything's good for me."

"Georgia" #15

She expresses that her faith helps with her mental and emotional health. "My relationship with God really helps with that because there are some days that I just want to scream because sometimes there's just so much going on. Like I said, with losing people, my brother, my best friend, my ex-husband, though we weren't in real, like, close communication, I mean we were friends. There's so many things going on, and you see what's happening just everywhere. It can be depressing, and if you allow yourself to just sit down and think about stuff, it can be overwhelming. And then you have things going on in your family that can be overwhelming too sometimes and you're just like, oh my god, when are you people gonna get it, right?... So it really is my faith has really helped me with that and just taking time to just breathe... like it's gonna be okay. It's going to be fine. And just trusting God to just take care of it, because without that I'd probably be somewhere that I don't want to be."

"Paige" #15

She has inner dialogues with herself to motivate herself to be active. "I could say, 'I'm tired this morning. I'm not gonna get dressed and go to the center.' I think, 'Oh, yes, you are' as I get in the shower, get dressed, and go out. And I'm glad that I did. But there's always that little bit, like, 'maybe you don't feel really good.' And I go, 'Yes, you do, now knock it off.'"

"Sadie" #10

"Well, [my mental health problems] started with COVID like I told you, and the pastor said she couldn't help me any further. I needed to see a professional because she doesn't have a degree, I don't think, in counseling, per se. She helped me through it. I was suicidal, and she said, what would happen with my daughter if I did something to myself and made me realize that [my daughter] probably couldn't get along without me? That would devastate her. And it helped to talk to a professional. Just helped me through the rough times."