Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, remarked, 鈥淭here are no boy philosophers.鈥�
Fortunately, most of us do get wiser as we age. However, it鈥檚 never been a top priority of mine to rush into old age so I could be a wise, elderly, medical journalist philosopher. Could I be wrong?
Consumer Reports on Health says there are several good things about aging. So I had to read on.
It appears I was wrong on one point. I鈥檝e always believed that the elderly suffered from more depression than younger people. After all, they see old friends die, illnesses become more frequent, their wife runs away with the local preacher, and it鈥檚 not as much fun to look in the mirror.
But according to the prestigious Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of depression actually go down after age 60.
This fact is confirmed by several other sources. For instance, a study of 340,000 people, published by the National Academy of Science, reports that those in their 60s and 70s were less troubled by negative emotions.
Dr. Laura Carstensen, professor of psychology at Stanford University, agrees this is the 鈥減aradox of aging.鈥�
She says that, as people grow older, they worry less about the future than younger people and focus more on the here and now.
And if they鈥檝e just recovered from a coronary bypass operation, and are happy to have survived, they鈥檙e more likely to stop worrying about the small stuff and smell the roses. (Maybe she鈥檚 right. But I vividly recall that after my bypass surgery, I decided I鈥檇 better sit by the lake watching birds. After half an hour, I decided I鈥檇 had enough.)
How do marriages and relationships fare as we age?
Groucho Marx, the comedian, once joked: 鈥淚 was married by a judge, I should have asked for a jury.鈥�
Today, since 50 per cent of marriages end in divorce, there鈥檚 an element of truth in Marx鈥檚 remark. I doubt if a judge or a monkey could have a poorer batting average in choosing mates.
Socrates, another Greek philosopher, realizing marriage was a game of Russian roulette, is credited with saying: 鈥淏y all means marry. If you get a good wife, you鈥檒l become happy; if you get a bad one, you鈥檒l become a philosopher.鈥�
The good news is, if they鈥檙e lucky and stay together, couples enjoy better health and quality of life than their unmarried peers. In 2011, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships reported that elderly couples, even when they quarrel, have more positive experiences with their partners. Researchers at the University of California added that, when recalling spats, older people even tend to rate their spouses more positively. This might be due to the fact that they begin to acknowledge their own mortality.
Consumer Reports says that satisfaction with social relationships also grows as we age. Seniors have a smaller, but closer, circle of friends. Unfortunately, it鈥檚 also a time when we see close friends departing. (How true 鈥� I鈥檝e just returned from my 67th reunion at the Harvard Medical School, and just a few of us are left.)
But since we cannot stop getting older, researchers also suggest several medical keys to healthy aging. They鈥檙e concerned that more than 70 per cent of those over age 60 exhibit hypertension, and suggest seniors reduce weight and stop smoking. Starting a sound lifestyle at an early age, they confirm, is the prudent move.
Lastly, seniors must cultivate new social contacts, but this is not easy.
Aristotle stressed that to have a good friend, 鈥測ou must take the requisite amount of salt together.鈥�
Good friends are not born overnight. It鈥檚 usually history that binds people together.
Maybe in the end, whether we鈥檙e comedians or Greek philosophers, we all in our own way become philosophers.
Next week, how I became the oldest person to descend on a rope (rappelling) from the top of Toronto鈥檚 city hall.
My wife was not amused. But it was an experience I will never forget.
Why did I do it?
