Salinas, CA Baby Boomer Myths About A Depressing Retirement Dispelled By Recent Research
by Richard Kuehn on 12/10/14
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a great article entitled, “Why Everything You Know About Aging Is Probably Wrong.” A lot of the article was positive, stating that as people get older friendships, creativity and satisfaction with life all can flourish. Many people, however, are extremely anxious about retirement. Among those surveyed that are 18-64, 57% expect memory loss although it impacts only 25% of those over 65. About 14% of seniors aren’t able to drive and yet about 45% of those 18-64 believe they won’t be able to. The list goes on and on. While most of the articles we read about seniors tend to focus on the negative, this one was great, aiming to dispel common myths such as depression being prevalent with the elderly. Research actually indicates that emotional well-being continues to improve until the 70’s, at which point it levels off. Even centenarians report overall high levels of well-being according to a 2014 study done by a number of researchers including Laura Cartensen, the director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. It’s a long article but I would encourage you to give it a read, it synthesizes a lot of recent research which has been done on the elderly.
