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Worried About Growing Older? Here’s Something Major To Look Forward To

Author:

Jenny Fant

February 25, 2023

mbg Health Contributor

By Jenny Fant

mbg Health Contributor

Jenny is a San Francisco-based mbg contributor, content designer, and climate & sustainability communications specialist. She is a graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara. An avid open-water swimmer, Jenny has worked for healthy living and nutrition brands like Sun Basket, Gather Around Nutrition, and Territory Foods.

Image of couple smiling at each other, appearing emotionally connected.

Image by Brat Co. / Stocksy

February 25, 2023

Aging is complicated. For years, we grow up so excited to be older, and then suddenly we realize time is moving faster than we ever anticipated.

And sure, a lot of potentially worrisome things can happen to our brains and bodies over time. But there are plenty of reasons to embrace each passing year with not only acceptance but also delight.

One recent study sheds light on one of these delights. It found that we tend to stress a lot less as we grow older, and even when stressors come up, we’re less reactive to them.

More years, less stress.

A recent study out of Penn State 1 found that experiences of daily stress decrease as people age.

The study looked at people ages 25–74 over a 20-year period. It found the number of days containing a stressful event to be much higher among the 25-year-olds (nearly half of all days) than among the 70-year-olds (about a third of all days).

“There’s something about growing old that leads to fewer stressors,” David Almeida, Ph.D., study author and professor of development and human studies at Penn State, said in a statement. “This could be the types of social roles that we fill as we age. As younger people, we may be juggling more, including jobs, families, and homes, all of which create instances of daily stress. But as we age, our social roles and motivations change. Older people talk about wanting to maximize and enjoy the time they have.”

Almeida also found that on days that contained stressors, individuals were less affected by them as they got older. While a decrease in reports of, and reactivity to, daily stressors, was observed into the mid-50s, aging into the late 60s and early 70s may bring more challenges and slight increases in the number of daily stressors.

The authors did note that this data, which was collected between 1995 and 2015, notably excludes one majorly stressful time period for the elderly—the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is still ongoing, so future reporting on COVID-19-era data might look very different.

Positive aging attitudes.

This new evidence is great news for the positive aging movement. Recent evidence shows a strong correlation between people who embrace aging and those who live longer, healthier lives. In fact, holding a positive view of aging could increase your life by almost a decade.

Scientists have found that positive attitudes about aging increase sleep quality and physical movement levels, improve social lives, and help provide a sense of purpose. All of these factors (in isolation and in tandem) are well studied and proven to positively affect lifespan and long-term health.

So if growing older is something you stress about, take this newfound research to heart. There’s so much to look forward to, especially given the increasing number of easy, breezy, vacation-level chill days to enjoy with each passing decade.

You likely know by now that stress itself can do a number on your overall health, so be sure to manage it wisely as you’re waiting for your birthday cake candle count to climb. Make sure you’re exercising, incorporating mindfulness, and prioritizing leisure time when you can step away from your worries (preferably in nature!). Eating a balanced diet that's low in sugary, refined foods can also go a long way in supporting the gut-brain connection, and certain supplements can help ease the stress response as well. These are the best ones to naturally soothe stress and anxiousness. Maintaining strong social networks is also one of the best things you can do for stress levels as you age, according to experts.

The takeaway.

New research out of Penn State looks at 20 years of data related to stress and aging. It found daily stressors decrease with each passing decade between our 20s and 70s. And what’s more, our ability to manage and stay less affected by stress improves up until our mid-50s.