We demonstrate that psychological factors, such as feeling unhappy or being lonely, add up to 1.65 years to one’s biological age, and the aggregate effect exceeds the effects of biological sex, living area, marital status, and smoking status. We conclude that the psychological component should not be ignored in aging studies due to its significant impact on biological age.
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I no longer feel alone in my search for greater longevity because of all of you. So this forum probably takes a few months off my biological age! Seriously, though, the good vibes and information and care are probably improving my longevity as well. Thanks everyone for being here!
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Thanks for that, but meditation and/or breathing exercises are a direct way of influencing the HPA axis and both increasing HRV and reducing levels of cortisol (which is probably one of the key issues in terms of longevity when it comes to psychosomatic effects).
Lowering cortisol then has other effects. (quite a few).
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I think those are excellent ideas as well.
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It’s also worth noting that it wouldn’t be surprising for this to be bidirectional. When you’re in poor health, it’s hard to do things with people, hard to want to do things with people. When someone is depressed, they often isolate and do not make social connections in the same ways that they are not doing other beneficial things for their health. It’s very easy to see this becoming a spiral. It’s good to try to shore up your physical, mental, and social health so they can support each other.
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The privatization of American leisure is one part of a much bigger story. Americans are spending less time with other people than in any other period for which we have trustworthy data, going back to 1965. Between that year and the end of the 20th century, in-person socializing slowly declined. From 2003 to 2023, it plunged by more than 20 percent, according to the American Time Use Survey, an annual study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among unmarried men and people younger than 25, the decline was more than 35 percent. Alone time predictably spiked during the pandemic. But the trend had started long before most people had ever heard of a novel coronavirus and continued after the pandemic was declared over. According to Enghin Atalay, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Americans spent even more time alone in 2023 than they did in 2021. (He categorized a person as “alone,” as I will throughout this article, if they are “the only person in the room, even if they are on the phone” or in front of a computer.)
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This needs more post covid figures. Covid did create a shift. Some was temporary and some more permanent.
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You have to be very careful with that graph. At first I read it as to how old people had less of a problem compared to the teens, whereas I’d thought the exact opposite, teens have tons of friends, old people are alone. But this is how much alone time has increased for age groups. I guess that makes sense, because lonely old people have less room to increase alone time. If you’re living alone and all your friends are dead, it’s hard to get more alone time.
It’s true for me as well: I spend less time with friends these past few years, since the pandemic. But I wonder about something else. Because - well, I hate to say it, but I don’t feel lonely even though most of the time it’s just me and my wife. The thing is, that I am more active online (including this website - thanks!), and I feel like I have a lot of social interaction. Sometimes even better quality interaction, as for example none of my friends are into health topics the way I am - and I can find my various interests more satisfied online compared to IRL friends. I go to the ballet with my wife, but none of my friends are interested in talking about ballet - while online “friends” do. Same with books etc. So online communities dedicated to hobbies and whatnot are very socially active.
But I also think it’s a bit of a personality factor too. When I spent considerable time alone in my 20’s, yes, it was alone time, but never lonely or psychologically stressful - I was living and studying in various countries and had plenty of psychological engagement. I had a very bad motorcycle accident back in the 90’s and was laid up in hospital and then recovery. When in the hospice recovery center, everyone was desperate to get a TV in their room. I never wanted one. I couldn’t use my hands, so I couldn’t read, didn’t listen to the radio etc. - but just being alone with my thoughts was enough - three months. Never felt lonely. So, I bet this whole effect is personality driven to a degree.
And the internet I bet changes the social interaction too. Old people who are less online may have a bigger problem. But younger people who grew up with the internet, I bet don’t feel near the “lonely” stress as much as past generations. As always YMMV.
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OK I have a great opportunity for socialization! I’ve packed some emergency bags and sitting here waiting to see if the Sunset Fire will consume my house. I’m gonna have to evacuate as soon as the order comes. There will be a lot of people, so there’ll be a lot of socialization. Good for longevity. But the air quality is really bad, despite all my filters - bad for longevity. We’ll see. I’m maintaining a philosophical attitude of stoicism, in face of possibly losing all my posessions, which I don’t care about, but sad about all the personal stuff, photos and memories attached, antiques. Oh well. Maybe the fire will not reach me. Always better to be lucky than good.
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Keep us up todate… good thoughts. It is hard to lose those pics and family mementos. Hope you come out with a good report.
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Whoa, good luck man. Please stay safe and keep us posted.
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It’s very scary down there!
If you haven’t, while you sit and wait, might I suggest taking photos/videos of your possessions. Sure, it’s a good thing to have for insurance, but the goal is to have memories of any possessions that might be lost.
I hope the winds are kind and things change quickly.
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So sorry to hear this. I hope that you and your family stay safe and that your house and invaluable possessions will come out unscathed.
@Beth, @Pat25 thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts.
At this point in time, things are looking cautiously optimistic, the worst danger might be over. There are a lot of firetrucks around. We are just outside the evacuation zone near Sunset Blvd. I think we made it, the situation has stabilized.
This experience has taught us a lot though. We were not brilliantly prepared for a sudden catastrophy or natural disaster. My wife and I have had many discussions now about how better to prepare for a future event. We were grabbing things chaotically, we weren’t even sure where our key documents were, we had to look for them all over. Perhaps we should buy a pickup truck to keep around so that stuff like old paintings and irreplaceable things can be evacuated if need be. And so on, endlessly. Tip: cats tend to hide when there is a lot of activity… trying to locate them and putting them in carriers in the middle of chaos is not optimal.
It was a close brush, and a wake up call.
My one message here would be: you never think it’s going to be you. Black swan events, however unlikely seeming, can happen. Do you have a plan, are you prepared, are all the emergency items in place. Because catastrophies and the unexpected do happen, even to you. And you are never as well prepared as you think.
Thank you again, and take heed.
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That’s great news. And some good advice we should all keep in mind.
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Its good to hear that you have escaped this. At times people are not that focussed on disaster recovery. Life is often organisationally bland.
There is a place in the UK (Dawlish) where Black Swans (normally only found in Australia) are kept.
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I’m glad to know things are looking better for you. Whew! Thanks for the update.
We were building during the Soberanes fire, which entered our neighborhood, and there were thousands of firefighters from all over the country using this place as a staging area. Being an east coast girl, I learned a lot of things about fire I never thought I’d need to know! One thing I learned is Cal Fire might be the only government agency who can impress me.
A couple of months after moving in, we had the cars packed and were getting ready to evacuate the next morning if needed for a different fire, but once again, the winds were on our side. We were waiting until the last minute to leave because, like you, we have cats. I’d rather take more personal risk than flee with cats!!
To your good point, I always make sure I know where their favorite hiding places du jour are, just incase I need to know.
We also bought large pet carriers, big enough to put a shoebox with litter inside and a place to put some food. Ours are collapsable.
When you pack up your cars to evacuate, as you have just experienced, you quickly learn what you actually care about. I learned I don’t care about anything I own that isn’t related to my pets or my short term comfort (my favorite toiletries, snuggly soft clothes, etc). After the Soberanes fire, I introduced canned food to the cats to make sure they could eat if we had to hit the road.
Around August/Sept, which seems to be our highest risk time, I make sure to keep my car fully charged, just incase.
We’ve had it pretty good the last couple of years, but your experience has reminded me I need to once again do a better job keeping extra supplies around (mainly extra cat food!) and in a convenient location.
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