The secret to aging well is, simply put, to live your life in healthy ways that bring you happiness and joy. Doing things that are empowering and boost self-esteem, and research suggests that maintaining a positive sense of self-worth can help minimize some of the negative effects of aging.
But more than physical health, older adults live happy lives when they are mentally and socially fit. To ensure the best of your senior years, you need to eat healthily, get enough sleep and exercise, build good relationships, and engage in recreational activities and community service.
Dr. Havemann says pre-existing depression and anxiety, as well as bereavement – which naturally occurs more often with advancing age – also contribute. Increasing insomnia is also a factor. Brain-body changes can cause depression that occurs for the first time later in life.
The United States' older adult population can thus, be divided into three life-stage subgroups: the young-old (approximately 65 to 74 years old), the middle-old (ages 75 to 84 years old), and the old-old (over age 85).
Who is Defined as Elderly? Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly.
On average, happiness declines as we approach middle age, bottoming out in our 40s but then picking back up as we head into retirement, according to a number of studies. This so-called U-shaped curve of happiness is reassuring but, unfortunately, probably not true.
People are happiest with their lives over the age of 50.
Experts found that in 145 countries, that's when most people felt the most content in their lives. The peak, actually, is considered the ages of 60 to 75.
' 'Therefore, a more precise reading of the previous finding is that the early 30s is the stage of life with the highest chances of belonging to the happiest period in life, though the probability also remains relatively high at adjacent ages and declines as individuals grow older. '
In one large study from the Brookings Institute, for example, scientists found happiness was high for 18- to 21-year-olds and then dropped steadily until about age 40. But past middle age, the pattern began to reverse—gradually climbing back up to its highest point at age 98!
Starting at age 18, your happiness level begins to decrease, reaching peak unhappiness at 47.2 in developed countries and 48.2 in developing countries. The good news is that happiness levels then gradually increase.
One's late twenties and early thirties, from an emotional perspective, are therefore the worst part of life. It's during these years that people experience the most negative thoughts and feelings and experience the most mind wandering, a psychological state that has been shown to be detrimental to well-being.
Life satisfaction in the U.S. follows a U-shape during working age, from 18 through retirement, with a mid-life low in the mid-40s, as in most countries (Figure 1).
This report focuses on older Australians – generally those aged 65 and over, unless otherwise specified.
In most industrialized Western nations, someone is considered a senior by the age of 65 or so. But remember: That number is based primarily on retirement age and the age at which social benefits kick in. Many people would not consider someone a senior until they're at least over the age of 70.
Plenty of septuagenarians today look healthy and spry — hence the cliché: 70 is the new 60. "Look at all the tremendous developments in modern medicine, not to mention changes in nutrition," McCarthy said. "And air conditioning — the degree to which we're insulated from our natural environment."
Common conditions in older age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia. As people age, they are more likely to experience several conditions at the same time.
Though the age period that defines middle age is somewhat arbitrary, differing greatly from person to person, it is generally defined as being between the ages of 40 and 60.
Aside from changes in the brain that impact inhibitory control and social cognition, it could simply be that as we get older, we care less about what others think. Compared to younger adults, older adults are less self-conscious, reporting fewer experiences of emotions such as shame, guilt, and embarrassment.