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Positive Views on Aging Can Sharpen Your Mind and Boost Health and Happiness
New research links cognitive decline to negative perspectives on growing old, adding to other evidence for the power of positivity
Every time I walk into a room and can’t remember why. Every time I misplace my glasses. Every time I can’t come up with a word I know I know. I wonder: Have I begun to lose my mind for real?
I know better. Minor mental lapses now and then are normal, and not everyone gets dementia — about 10% of U.S. seniors have it. Still, the idea that cognitive skills might eventually decline can fuel anxiety as the years roll by. Pharmaceutical companies and supplement hucksters prey on this worry by promising dubious fixes in pill form.
New research suggests a natural, cost-free way to help maintain thinking skills, one that individuals of all ages, and society as a whole, would be wise to lean into:
Think positively about the aging process.
There’s lots of evidence indicating positive thinking, in general and specifically about aging, can improve mental health and physical well-being and increase the odds you’ll live longer.
