Old Age and Attitude
Researchers examined 500 Americans age 60 to 98 who live independently and had dealt with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions or a range of other problems. The participants rated their own degree of successful aging on scale of 1-10, with 10 being best. Despite their ills, the average rating was 8.4.
“People who think they are aging well are not necessarily the (healthiest) individuals,” said lead researcher Dilip Jeste of the University of California at San Diego. “In fact, optimism and effective coping styles were found to be more important to successfully aging than traditional measures of health and wellness.”
A study released last year found that people who described themselves as highly optimistic a decade ago had lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease and lower overall death rates than strong pessimists. Research earlier this year revealed that the sick and disabled are often as happy as anyone else.
“Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude,” by Robert Roy Britt