Seasoned citizens who feel their life lacks purpose may be more prone to memory loss and thinking problems as they age, a new study suggests.
Reported by The Times online publication, it revealed the results of a cooperatives study conducted conducted by Sweden’s Karolinska Institut and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. It tracked more than 900 people for 14 years.
Published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, researchers discovered that well-being noticeably declined two to six years before mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia, was diagnosed.
In assessing seasoned citizens, researchers looked at the subjects’ feelings of purpose, personal growth, self-acceptance, autonomy and environmental mastery.
According to The Times, researchers described the phenomenon as “a vicious cycle, in which those experiencing cognitive decline might see friends less, which may cause a further fall in mental ability.”
This proves the devastating impact isolation and lack of purpose has on seasoned citizens. When people tend to feel as though their lives have no purpose, they stay at home engaging in activities that only help pass the time.
By staying at home and not engaging with friends or participating in social activities, their lives have even less purpose. It is one of the saddest, most preventable situations impacting people over 50.
I personally experience this problem from 2019, when my business shut down, through the COVID isolation of 2020 and 2021. Without a purpose to my life, or the inability to interact with others, I most certainly would have welcomed an early death.
“People with impaired cognitive function may be less likely to engage in social and leisure activities than they were previously, which can cause further deterioration in their relationships with friends or others,” the study reported.
“Our findings indicate that personal growth and purpose in life may be more cognitively demanding than other components of well-being, and therefore may serve as more sensitive indicators of cognitive ageing,” it added.
In other words, once a lack of purpose settles in, so does cognitive decline.
We see this often in men who retire. When their lives have centered around a job which gave their lives meaning, and that job is taken away or voluntarily given up, then their lives no longer have purpose. A life of watching television, surfing the internet or engaged in meaningless “busy work” projects is not worth living.
That’s why the Social Security Administration reports that 89% of men who retire at 55 are dead by the time they reach 65. In addition, the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that many men who retire at 65 are dead by 68.
All you need to do is look at the demographics of any retirement community to know that’s true. Here in Sun City, Ariz., 60% of the population is women.
“There is substantial research evidence that looking after your mental well-being and staying socially active throughout your life can help to reduce your risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia later on in life,” said Dr. Rich Oakley, with the Alzheimer’s Society.
The bottom line is that people who desire a long and engaging life, need something that gives their lives meaning and purpose. Remove that purpose and engagement, and their lives enter a slow decline of mental ability.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.