Aging and Life Enhancement
By Kathryn Kilpatrick, M.A.
In May, we celebrated Older American month, talking about Flipping the Script. Yale Psychologist Becca Levy, PhD, has research that focuses on aging beliefs and their impact on health and longevity. Negative beliefs can lead to poorer health outcomes. Positive age beliefs can contribute to better cognitive and physical functioning, and even a longer lifespan up to 7 ½ years. Although there may be things that are more difficult or unsafe to do, your mindset can lead you down a road to new possibilities.
Aging is not lost youth but a new opportunity and strength. ~Betty Frieden
Her book, “Breaking the Age Code: How Your Age Beliefs Determine How Long and How Well You Live,” talks about ageism, the stereotyping and discrimination of people solely based on their age. This mindset creeps into society. In her book, she talks about 14 of the most common negative beliefs with the cognitive decline at the top of the list.
Finding a health care professional that supports the current research and can direct you to the appropriate resources where you are given the most up to date recommendations can be a step in the right direction for any concerns.
In Japan, people are treated differently. Respect for the Aged Day is a public holiday celebrated annually to honor and show appreciation for the elderly, particularly those who have reached the age of 100. It is a vibrant celebration and many communities honor the elderly with parties or ceremonies and present them with gifts. TV stations usually air senior-related programs such as features on the number of elderly in Japan or the oldest people in the country. And school children often visit facilities for the elderly to entertain them with song and dance. Dr. Levy saw how old age is treated as a time to enjoy rather than to fear and she started to wonder how culture impacts aging.
Nobody grows old by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideas. Years many wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles you. ~Samuel Ullman
Take some time to reflect on your beliefs, how you might modify some of your favorite activities when limitations become a concern. Maybe you no longer can ice skate but it was once a favorite activity. A proactive friend of mine loved skating and goes to watch many of the competitions. In the last year she went to a fitness club, worked out regularly, then started with a trainer. Recently, she went to an indoor skating rink and slowly but surely is delighted to be getting back to skating.
We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing. ~George Barnard Shaw
Dr. Levy’s research has shown that when people take in more positive age beliefs that it can, in part, influence different kinds of health outcomes. She mentions that demographically, we are at a crossroads. For the first time, there are more people over the age of 64 than under the age of 5 in the world. Yes we have a “silver tsunami” as many people are getting to experience old age with better health.
In a study she did in Oxford, Ohio, she found the single most important factor determining longevity in these inhabitants more than gender, income, social background, loneliness or functional health—was how these people thought about and approached the idea of old age. What do you see for yourself or how can you offer support and engagement for those who are older? Dr. Levy of Yale University feels we can fix even deeply rooted negative views about aging, which many of us do not see in ourselves.
Live your life and forget your age. ~Norman Vincent Peale
