Offbeat (14): Are we happier as we age?

By John B. Monteiro
Bellevision Media Network

We deem those happy who from experience of life have learnt to bear its ills, without being overcome by them. – Decimus Junius Juvenal, satirical Latin poet (AD40-125).
Just as old age is creeping apace,
And clowds come o’er the sunset of our day,
They kindly leave us alone, though not quite alone,
But in good company – the gaut and stone.
 - George Gordon Noel Byron, English poet (1788-1824).

 

18 September 2012: Former Mr. Universe, Manohar Aich, who turned 100 on March 18, 2012 said in Kolkota that happiness and life without tension are the key to his longevity.  The 150 cm tall (or short?) won the Mr. Universe body-building title and 1952 and has been dubbed “Pocket Hercules”.  His sound-bites to media: “I never allow any sort of tension to grip me.  I had to struggle to earn money since my young days, but whatever the situation, I remained happy”.

 

You might think that this is a statement tailored for the landmark occasion.  But, though you may not believe it, research shows that our happiness steadily increases once we pass 45. Here are excerpts from Daily Mail (London) from its issue of March 12, 2012.It says that although our physical quality of life goes down once we get past middle-age, our mental satisfaction ’increases’.

The University of Warwick study backs up previous research showing that our happiness levels form a U-curve, reaching their low point at around 45 but then increasing as we age.  Researchers analyzed lifestyle and health patterns in more than 10,000 people in the U.S. and the UK.  They evaluated quality of life using eight different factors including perception of general health, pain, social functioning and mental health.

 

Dr Saverio Stranges, who led the study, said happiness may increase with age because we develop ’better coping abilities’ to deal with hardship than younger people.’It’s obvious that people’s physical quality of life deteriorates as they age, but what is interesting is that their mental well-being doesn’t also deteriorate - in fact it increases,’ he added.

 
 The study shows that our happiness levels form a U-curve, reaching their low point at around 45 but then increasing as we age. ’We suggest that this could be due to better coping abilities, an interpretation supported by previous research showing older people tend to have internal mechanisms to deal better with hardship or negative circumstances than those who are younger. ’It could also be due to a lowering of expectations from life, with older people less likely to put pressure on themselves in the personal and professional spheres.’

 

Writing on the same subject in The Daily Telegraph (London) dated April 4, 2010, Jeanna Bryner observes that aging brings wrinkles, sagging bodies and frustrating forgetfulness.  But getting older is not all bad for many people. Mounting evidence suggests aging may be a key to happiness. There is conflicting research on the subject, however, and experts say it may all boil down to this: Attitude is everything.  Older adults tend to be more optimistic and to have a positive outlook on life than their younger, stressed, counterparts, research is finding. The results take on more meaning in light of the ongoing increase in life expectancy.

 

In one study, the average number of years a 30-year-old in the United States could expect to live increased 5.4 years for men and 3.6 years for women between 1970 and 2000. During that same time period, men gained 6.8 years of happy life and shed 1.4 unhappy years. Women chalked up 1.3 happy years, but the number of unhappy years didn’t change for them, according to research published in 2008 by Yang Yang, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. Her work suggests that an increase in years of happy life for the 65-plus age group accompanied the increase in life expectancy on average.

 

What would be the situation for senior citizens in India? What would it be for older people living on their own, living with their families or old age homes of all types? Here is where you reders come in with your personal experience and observations. A special invitation for senior citizens to express their views on the subject.

 

Chew on This!

 

John B. Monteiro, journalist and author, is Editor of his website, www.welcometoreason.com (Interactive Cerebral Challenger) – with provision for instant response. Try responding!