How would you complete the sentence “When I’m 64…”? That’s the question researchers asked more than 700 participants in a to study recently published in the journal PLOS One. Lead author of the study and psychologist at the University of Zurich Tabea Meier tells Yahoo LIfe that his team discovered that the way people talk about aging provides a “window” into our current physical and emotional well-being. But exactly what feelings about aging have been linked to better well-being have surprised researchers and may offer some insights into which attitudes are most helpful as we look toward old age.
Here’s what researchers learned — and what you can do to improve your own well-being.
Talking about your feelings helps
Whether they wrote about positive or negative emotions, those who opened up about their feelings about aging performed better, according to the study. “Emotionally expressive individuals had better markers of well-being, specifically physical health,” explains Meier. “I expected positive emotions to also matter more, but in hindsight it makes sense,” she adds. “There is some research that shows that expressing negative emotions can help us regulate emotions and stress.”
Meier says her findings suggest that journaling — putting positive and negative emotions on paper — can be good for your physical and mental health and help you approach the aging process with optimism.
Too much self-focus is linked to worse well-being
Researchers found that people whose essays about aging involved a lot of “I talk” – the use of “I” and related words like “my” – were more likely to have poor well-being. Much research has shown that “greater use of first-person language is related to worse well-being.” Raeanne Moore, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, told Yahoo Life. In fact, using a lot of self-centered words is considered a sign of potential depression It is anxiety.
As a result, Moore says, it’s worth paying attention to whether you’re always talking or writing in a journal in these self-centered terms, both for your current well-being and to set the stage for healthy aging. “Psychological factors that positively impact successful aging are things like resilience, gratitude, hope, wonder, optimism, happiness and creativity,” she says. “Depression interferes with almost every determinant of successful aging, so being able to identify, through people’s language patterns, whether they are experiencing depressive symptoms could help identify when people are at risk for these outcomes. bad and when they need to seek help. ”
Talking about (and being with) others is a victory
In contrast, the study found that people who wrote about social connections – to friends, family or others – had better well-being. Loneliness has been linked to greater risks of everything from high blood pressure to anxiety to cognitive decline, and is experienced by about 1 in 4 older adults worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Experts say it’s not surprising that those who find old age lonely have poorer well-being. But that should be an incentive to stay connected, says Moore. “The seniors I know who I would call ‘successful seniors’ continually keep their mind and body stimulated, through various means such as exercise, socialization, and cognitively stimulating activities,” she says. “Look at the popularity of pickleball! Not only does it tick the physical activity box, but it is also highly social and promotes intergenerational engagement.”
It’s good not to obsess about aging
Words used by some of the study participants, such as “notice,” “understand,” and “why,” were associated with poorer well-being and “may indicate tendencies to ruminate and [be] concerned about the negative aspects of aging,” the researchers wrote. So avoiding obsessing over aging worries can help you feel better now and age more optimistically.
Melinda Ginne, a California psychologist who specializes in counseling seniors and people with chronic illnesses, says it’s a good idea not to think about aging too much. She likes to tell her patients a moment from a TED Talk given by the late neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks, when he was asked if he had any age-related health problems. “I do what I think everyone should do: I ignore it,” Sacks joked. “I’m always telling people not to make assumptions about their ages and health conditions,” instead fixating on their limitations, Ginne tells Yahoo Life.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t take care of your health, Ginne adds. But she sees a marked difference in her patients, who don’t consider the concerns of old age central to the way they talk to themselves or others. People who think positively and don’t let the aging process “depress them… have a much better quality of life,” says Ginne.
