Subjective Age

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

Here is an article about Subjective Age ie. how old we feel, and to what extent this affects our real life and health.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180712-the-age-you-feel-means-more-than-your-actual-birthdate

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Imagine, for a moment, that you had no birth certificate and your age was simply based on the way you feel inside. How old would you say you are?

Like your height or shoe size, the number of years that have passed since you first entered the world is an unchangeable fact. But everyday experience suggests that we often don’t experience ageing the same way, with many people feeling older or younger than they really are.

Scientists are increasingly interested in this quality. They are finding that your ‘subjective age’ may be essential for understanding the reasons that some people appear to flourish as they age – while others fade. “The extent to which older adults feel much younger than they are may determine important daily or life decisions for what they will do next,” says Brian Nosek at the University of Virginia.

Its importance doesn’t end there. Various studies have even shown that your subjective age also can predict various important health outcomes, including your risk of death. In some very real ways, you really are ‘only as old as you feel’.

Interestingly, however, the people with younger subjective ages also became more conscientious and less neurotic – positive changes that come with normal ageing. So they still seem to gain the wisdom that comes with greater life experience. But it doesn’t come at the cost of the energy and exuberance of youth. It’s not as if having a lower subjective age leaves us frozen in a state of permanent immaturity.

Feeling younger than your years also seems to come with a lower risk of depression and greater mental wellbeing as we age.

Put another way: your subjective age can better predict your health than the date on your birth certificate.

Stephan believes that doctors should be asking all their patients about their subjective age to identify the people who are most at risk of future health problems to plan their existing health care more effectively.

In the meantime, these findings can give us all a more nuanced view of the way our own brains and bodies weather the passing of time. However old you really are, it’s worth questioning whether any of those limitations are coming from within.

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Cheers.

Sriram

[Maeght]

How do you know what being a certain age feels like?

Reflects mental attitude I guess - one of many ways this could be determined.

[Roses]

I can't believe I am 68, mentally I don't think I have changed that much since I was a kid, I am just an aged tom boy now.

[jeremyp]

Imagine, for a moment, that you had no birth certificate and your age was simply based on the way you feel inside. How old would you say you are?

I don't feel any different to how I have always felt.

[ippy]

Hi everyone,

Here is an article about Subjective Age ie. how old we feel, and to what extent this affects our real life and health.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180712-the-age-you-feel-means-more-than-your-actual-birthdate

**************

Imagine, for a moment, that you had no birth certificate and your age was simply based on the way you feel inside. How old would you say you are?

Like your height or shoe size, the number of years that have passed since you first entered the world is an unchangeable fact. But everyday experience suggests that we often don’t experience ageing the same way, with many people feeling older or younger than they really are.

Scientists are increasingly interested in this quality. They are finding that your ‘subjective age’ may be essential for understanding the reasons that some people appear to flourish as they age – while others fade. “The extent to which older adults feel much younger than they are may determine important daily or life decisions for what they will do next,” says Brian Nosek at the University of Virginia.

Its importance doesn’t end there. Various studies have even shown that your subjective age also can predict various important health outcomes, including your risk of death. In some very real ways, you really are ‘only as old as you feel’.

Interestingly, however, the people with younger subjective ages also became more conscientious and less neurotic – positive changes that come with normal ageing. So they still seem to gain the wisdom that comes with greater life experience. But it doesn’t come at the cost of the energy and exuberance of youth. It’s not as if having a lower subjective age leaves us frozen in a state of permanent immaturity.

Feeling younger than your years also seems to come with a lower risk of depression and greater mental wellbeing as we age.

Put another way: your subjective age can better predict your health than the date on your birth certificate.

Stephan believes that doctors should be asking all their patients about their subjective age to identify the people who are most at risk of future health problems to plan their existing health care more effectively.

In the meantime, these findings can give us all a more nuanced view of the way our own brains and bodies weather the passing of time. However old you really are, it’s worth questioning whether any of those limitations are coming from within.

**************

Cheers.

Sriram

Going by my sense of humour I would estimate myself at about 12 years of age, there's plenty that wont admit as much Sriram.

Regards ippy

[SusanDoris]

It is a sort of no-question for us though, isn't it. We all have birth certificates. We all know our ages  and we know how we felt at various ages along the way. Our basic personality comes from the set of genes we acquire, so I have always been the same type of person - one who does not waste time wondering whether I feel the age I am!!

[Rhiannon]

I don't feel any different to how I have always felt.

I care less what other people think. That’s pretty much the only difference.

[Shaker]

How do you know what being a certain age feels like?

The experience of aging, presumably - somebody who was once 20 but is now 40 may, for all manner of internal and external reasons, feel like a decrepit wreck. On the other hand - I'm not a bloody idiot; I know what the birth certificate says, even worse the mirror, but despite the fact I long ago hit the point at which Billy Connolly defined the onset of middle age (being unable to bend down to pick something up off the floor without making that noise), I can honestly say that internally I don't feel any different to how I did when I was twenty or so. That may change in due course - some people say they start to feel their chronological age after a serious illness (like Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer, if anyone has been following their rather charming and endearing programme recently) or when they hit a significant milestone such as 50 or 60, or retirement.

It may not, though. I remember many years ago seeing a documentary (I think) where an American guy within hailing distance of 90 met up with those of his oldest friends who were still alive and when interviewed afterwards declared himself absolutely astounded that they had all grown so old and infirm while he, amazingly, hadn't changed a bit.

[Maeght]

The experience of aging, presumably.

But we know how we feel but not how we 'should' feel. Itd pretty meaningless, other than a simple indication of your mental attitude. Me - I feel old.

[torridon]

Maybe your taste in music might be an indicator of your subjective age.  My parents generation seemed marked by a shift from energetic music when they were young, but by the time they reached a certain age it was all easy listening and Sing Something Simple on Radio 2.  Val Doonican and slippers and cardigans.

That hasn't been born out for me, at all; I still like the music I did when I was 18. Monteverdi, or Motorhead, depending on mood.

[Sriram]

I think one of the factors determining subjective age is how much you connect with the current times and younger people.  If you don't connect with your children and grandchildren and feel that times have changed...you might feel old and actually start aging faster physically.  If one connects with the present generation and today's science and technology, one is likely to keep feeling 'current'.   Staying updated is important IMO.

Also, some people identify very deeply with their jobs, the work and authority they had. When they retire, they could start feeling old.  People who did not identify with their jobs very much are unlikely to be affected much after retirement.

It also perhaps depends on their wife/husband, their health and well being. If both are together, healthy and happy, they are likely to keep feeling young longer.

It is difficult to identify all factors but generally it depends on ones diet and lifestyle. Eating less, staying slim, workout or Yoga might help in feeling young longer.

[ippy]

The experience of aging, presumably - somebody who was once 20 but is now 40 may, for all manner of internal and external reasons, feel like a decrepit wreck. On the other hand - I'm not a bloody idiot; I know what the birth certificate says, even worse the mirror, but despite the fact I long ago hit the point at which Billy Connolly defined the onset of middle age (being unable to bend down to pick something up off the floor without making that noise), I can honestly say that internally I don't feel any different to how I did when I was twenty or so. That may change in due course - some people say they start to feel their chronological age after a serious illness (like Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer, if anyone has been following their rather charming and endearing programme recently) or when they hit a significant milestone such as 50 or 60, or retirement.

It may not, though. I remember many years ago seeing a documentary (I think) where an American guy within hailing distance of 90 met up with those of his oldest friends who were still alive and when interviewed afterwards declared himself absolutely astounded that they had all grown so old and infirm while he, amazingly, hadn't changed a bit.

That last paragraph of your post Shakes, is ringing bells somewhere, I suppose there has to be those lucky few beautiful, modest people that manage to defy the passing of time.

I must remember to order another large lorry load of ugly pills.

Regards ippy

[Harrowby Hall]

On his 80th birthday, the BBC sent some young slip of a girl to interview Sir Georg Solti.

"Oh, Sir Georg" she simpered. "What does it feel like to be 80?"

"I'll tell you what it is like to 80" rasped the great man, in his Hungarian accent. "Look at my face. You see the face of an 80-year old man.  Inside, I am 20!"



Well, I have been 27 for more years than I can count. I'm not looking forward to being 28.

But I have a stalker. I have photographic evidence of this. In lots of places that I have been and with people that I have been with, he insinuates his way into photographs where I should be. He is old and grey and bald. I have no idea who he might be, and he always hides from me, too. I am nowhere to be seen.

[ippy]

I think one of the factors determining subjective age is how much you connect with the current times and younger people.  If you don't connect with your children and grandchildren and feel that times have changed...you might feel old and actually start aging faster physically.  If one connects with the present generation and today's science and technology, one is likely to keep feeling 'current'.   Staying updated is important IMO.

Also, some people identify very deeply with their jobs, the work and authority they had. When they retire, they could start feeling old.  People who did not identify with their jobs very much are unlikely to be affected much after retirement.

It also perhaps depends on their wife/husband, their health and well being. If both are together, healthy and happy, they are likely to keep feeling young longer.

It is difficult to identify all factors but generally it depends on ones diet and lifestyle. Eating less, staying slim, workout or Yoga might help in feeling young longer.

I have sympathy with this post of yours Sriram it's something most of us have given a thought about I've spoken about this with friends and family from time to time in the sort of lovely conversation where the banter is inclined to take over and giving or being on the receiving end of this friendly banter is equally enjoyable to me.

When I've been asked about this I suppose it's, well it is to me about mental age and I feel about the same inside my head as I did somewhere between age 30 ish to 40 ish  with the sense of humour fixed on the earlier stage as I've stated.

Yes good post Sriram it's a bit of speculative fun about being human

I have a model of Laurel & Hardy sitting on the patio at the back of our house, my children brought it for me some time ago my wife and I were sitting there drinking our coffee together this morning in our unusual for the U K 30c unbroken for weeks weather and laughing at the way these figures bring to mind the laughter these two men have caused, some of the various scenes, thing they've said etc., and then musing when am I going to grow up.

Oh yes Sriram it made me think of joining the 'sons of the Desert' club it's not that far away from where I live, it's in South End, it's the Laurel & Hardy fan club, they've used the title to one of their films, if you've not seen Sons of the Desert you should see if you can find it Sriram, it's a necessary part of your education, everybody's education.

Kindest of regards ippy

 

[ippy]

I have a stalker. I have photographic evidence of this. In lots of places that I have been and with people that I have been with, he insinuates his way into photographs where I should be. He is old and grey and bald. I have no idea who he might be, and he always hides from me, too. I am nowhere to be seen.

H H, I think you'll find this is far more common an occurrence than perhaps you think it is.

Regards ippy

P S keep on taking the pills.

[Sriram]

ippy & HH,

Try these exercises (meant for the elderly). It's a modified version of the one younger people do.

It'll make you feel much younger, without being too out of sync with the body.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmxmkyyzCI

[SteveH]

I can't believe I am 68, mentally I don't think I have changed that much since I was a kid, I am just an aged tom boy now.

Many people would agree...

[Roses]

Many people would agree...

Miaow!

[Robbie]

Like Rhiannon, I have cared less about what people think of me and how I do things as I've got older. I never did care that much but now hardly at all.

LRoses up until this year I too have been young at heart but recently my mental age seems to be about 101  .  My intention is to gradually reduce it and settle at around 29 which is half my actual age.

[ippy]

ippy & HH,

Try these exercises (meant for the elderly). It's a modified version of the one younger people do.

It'll make you feel much younger, without being too out of sync with the body.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmxmkyyzCI

I've seen pictures of people doing this yoga stuff that have tied themselves into knot like positions carried off put into ambulances to be unravelled in hospital, probably under anaesthetic; so no thank you very much.

Anyway I need to preserve myself for the nation, not just think of myself.

Regards ippy

[ippy]

Many people would agree...

Anything over 60 translates to now you're just another old git, welcome to the club Steve.

Regards ippy

[SteveH]

Anything over 60 translates to now you're just another old git, welcome to the club Steve.

Regards ippy

Clapped-out old fart and proud of it!

[ippy]

Clapped-out old fart and proud of it!

Preceded you by eight years Steve, a couple of old gits!

Regards ippy

[Sriram]

I've seen pictures of people doing this yoga stuff that have tied themselves into knot like positions carried off put into ambulances to be unravelled in hospital, probably under anaesthetic; so no thank you very much.

Anyway I need to preserve myself for the nation, not just think of myself.

Regards ippy

Very funny ippy!  You are in your 60's not your 90's......   

But Yoga is not just about impossible postures.  Many postures are quite easy. Also breathing techniques are very useful.

The exercises I have linked earlier are actually very easy and are performed while sitting in a chair.  It will help you come back to your 60's if not anything else.

[Harrowby Hall]

Try these exercises (meant for the elderly). It's a modified version of the one younger people do.

It'll make you feel much younger, without being too out of sync with the body..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpmxmkyyzCI

Thanks for the thought, Sriram.

But I do go to the gym every morning at 0630.  I spend about an hour there - most of the time doing various cardiovascular activities, but I do spend a little time doing resistance exercises as well.

I am always impressed by the number of old people there, Since I am only 27 (still) I'm probably one of the youngest there.