Why Are You Tired All The Time?...

The source of pervasive exhaustion and what to do about it Although she typically sleeps soundly and has good “sleep hygiene” — no coffee after 3 p.m., a quiet, darkened bedroom and a reasonable bedtime — Rose D. always feels tired. At 54, she slogs through her workday, hitting a wall in late afternoon when she closes the door to her office, lays her head on her desk and catches a 30-minute nap. When her doctor gave her a clean bill of health, he suggested that Rose consider other factors that might account for her tiredness — the stressors in her life such as financial problems and a contentious relationship with her sister. As it turns out, they were weighing heavily on her and manifesting in a deep sense of exhaustion. While the benefits of a good night’s sleep are well documented, chronic and more ambiguous tiredness afflicts millions of people over 50. Their fatigue isn’t caused by illness, medication or any clearly diagnosable condition. It’s borne instead of leading complex emotional and psychological lives in a world fraught with stressors. At a stage in life where typical concerns such as money, children, illness and loss start to move toward center stage, the first cognizance of one’s mortality and a sense of time running out fuel an out-of-control feeling that can zap your energy. “Exhaustion is the expression not just of a lack of sleep, but a much more profound underlying response to the conditions in which we live,” says New York clinical psychologist Michele Berdy, whose clientele includes many in their 50s and 60s. Running At Full Tilt Economics and technology add to the fatigue cocktail. While one’s 50s and 60s were traditionally a time to slow down...

How to Go Gray Naturally...

It’s not easy, but it is possible. These tips can break your cycle of monthly dye jobs. My friends tell me I should consider myself blessed, because at nearly 52 years of age, I’m just beginning to show my gray. And while it doesn’t bother me — yet — I’m starting to think about color for the first time in my life. The odds are, though, that I won’t go there, for a variety of practical reasons: the chemicals, the cost and the hassle of upkeep. But mostly I just don’t want to mess with Mother Nature. I came close to coloring my hair last year, when my father passed away. My sisters and I contemplated dyeing our brunette hair red in solidarity: My father went into the great beyond at 84 with the same gorgeous copper-red hair with which he came into the world. How Women Used to Grapple with Gray Until recently, women fell into two basic camps: those who colored and set their hair until it didn’t, or couldn’t, move (think “helmet head”) and those who went gray naturally. “Several decades ago, when women decided not to color their hair, they just grew it longer and pulled it back,” says Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips, a trichologist at Philip Kingsley salon in New York City. “You got away with having gray hair because that’s what the norm was — it was either done and colored or it wasn’t.” Today, women who want to hide their grays have many options. There are demi- and semi-permanent hair color options that are ammonia-free, and therefore less damaging, as well as permanent color, a stronger cocktail of chemicals that keeps the color longer. (Semi-permanent color typically fades in about a dozen shampoos,...