How can we age well?

As an old-age psychiatrist working with people aged sixty and above, I often feel moved with the range of people coming to my clinic listening to their early life experiences and how it shaped their current state of health.

My work at the university hospital allows me to meet people from different parts of the country with different educational backgrounds and early childhood experiences, some have aged better than others, this made me wonder what makes certain people experience better old age than others? And how I can learn from my patients to work on my own aging, when the time comes?

The book “Aging Well” by the American psychologist, Dr George Vaillant reports on the analysis of three longevity studies spanning, in some cases, almost eighty years that followed Americans from their childhood through old age and death.

The researchers interviewed people who participated in the study for a long period of time in order to find common ties that connect those who have managed to live long, healthy and happy lives. When people reach their 70s and 80s, what were the behaviors and actions they took that resulted in a positive outcome compared to those who had negative outcomes in life?

The author describes stories of participants from different backgrounds, and how their lives changed and evolved as they grew older. We meet people whose lives were largely happy, those whose lives ended in sadness, and many whose lives started out bleak and ended in happy contentment. At the end of the book, the author suggests a few tips that can help us achieve healthy aging.

The first tip is to focus on cultivating your most loving and supportive relationships as they are more likely to bring you happiness and purpose for your whole life. It is natural for some friends to fall out of your life, don’t let that stop you from developing new friendships. Avoid drinking alcohol and smoking as they are the most associated with poor life outcomes. Learn to give back to your community, particularly by passing on your experience and wisdom to the next generation which will make you feel good and help others learn from your long-life experience. Make space in your life for playing and physical activities, as they have a positive impact on your mental and psychological well-being.

Invest in social activities and remember that loneliness is bad for your health with studies suggesting it is as bad as smoking and drinking alcohol. The younger you start looking after your body the better is the long-term outcome.

Depression is a common mental illness and the behaviors that result from it such as smoking, drinking alcohol and avoiding physical activity are the main reasons behind its negative impact on your health. Finally, I recommend reading this book and incorporating the tips in your personal life even though it was conducted many years ago and in different social situations since the values discussed are pretty much universal.