Feeling older than your age?

This is how it affects you

Studies from recent years have found a fascinating link between our "subjective age" and the chances of longevity and developing various diseases.

So what exactly does this connection stem from and is there anything we can do to change the situation?

Walla!

health

25/01/2022

Tuesday, 25 January 2022, 06:07 Updated: 07:37

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We are all familiar with the well-worn cliché that "age is just a number" - but in practice, experts explain that age is not just one number - but three different numbers.

There is the chronological age, which most simply indicates the number of years you spent on Earth, there is the biological age, which doctors and scientists examine according to different physiological indicators and there is the subjective age - which each of us determines for himself according to his personal feeling.

On the surface, when looking at our health, subjective age seems to be the least important measure - because it is also the least objective measure of the three, but you may be surprised to find that studies show that this figure has a greater effect on you than you might think.

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To the full article

One study, published this year in the journal Psychology and Aging, found that people who perceive themselves as younger than their real age tend to enjoy a healthier mind and a better chance of longevity.

Another study, also published this year in the journal Behavioral Sleep Medicine, found that people who sleep less well also tend to feel older than their age and see aging in a more negative and frightening light.

And by the same token, the researchers also stressed that according to the data, those who feel younger also tend to sleep better and enjoy better quality sleep.

Leading the unique sleep study is Dr. Serena Santini, a psychologist at the University of Exeter in England.

Good sleep makes you feel young.

Woman in bed (Photo: ShutterStock, DedMityay)

Studies of this kind are indeed very intriguing, but they show only a statistical relationship and not a relationship of cause and effect between the various factors. According to Dr. Santini, “We do not know if a negative attitude towards old age causes a bad sleep or if a bad sleep causes a negative attitude towards old age. To understand this, we need to follow the participants over a longer period of time. This is important because if, for example, we understand that poor sleep intensifies these difficult feelings, we can focus on sleep improvement programs to solve this problem and promote healthier relationships for people with the process of puberty. "

But if we move away for a moment from this narrow look at sleep and aging, many findings collected in recent years paint a similar picture and prove as stated that the way we perceive ourselves is more important to our health than we previously thought.

When we feel young, the chances of us participating in social gatherings, exercising and eating healthier increase considerably.

And this positive outlook on life also reduces stress and anxiety, of course.

These are all things that have been proven in studies to affect longevity and the risk of developing various diseases.

Feeling older than your age?

You are probably not alone.

Amit Segal (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Although the studies we have told you about here are relatively new, the insight they reflect is really not new. As early as 2015, an article was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine according to which people who feel younger enjoy a reduced risk of dying prematurely and also less develop heart disease, depression and even various types of cancer.

So true, no one can dive into your brain and make you feel younger, or love the wrinkles, back pain and all the side effects that come with the grains of sand coming off your watch, but your very familiarity with such studies and the power you have to influence mental and physical health Yours - may already be contributing to a change in your perception in this important area. "Our understandings of mental age are a great example of how our mind and body affect each other," Dr. Santini emphasizes.

According to her, anyone reading her findings can see this as an opportunity to adopt a different way of looking at life and understand that the tremendous power he holds in his hands can greatly influence - for better or worse - what the next decades of his life will look like.

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