A new research study has been released and it states that people who enjoy their lives will live longer than depressed individuals. The study found that the participants had quicker walker speeds and better physical body functions than their more pessimistic counterparts. It has been known for a long time that there is numerous health benefits connected with having a positive outlook toward life. This study, done in 2013, suggests that people who have happier lives in general also enjoy enhanced physical health.

In 2012, the research report came out in the journal Medical News Today and it read that individuals who stated that they enjoyed their lives tended to live longer. As part of a follow-up to the study, more testing was done and links between contentment and physical performance were definitely discovered, after measuring what nearly 3,200 senior participants, age 60 and older, considered to be the enjoyments in life.

The contributors of the research study were questioned to rate on a scale of one to four how much they subscribed to the following statements: “I enjoy things I do”, “I enjoy being with others”, “I look back on my life with happiness” and “I have lots of energy now”.

The study discovered that the seniors who said that they were enjoying their lives did indeed have better physical function than people who stated they were unhappy. Also while doing the interviews, the researchers assessed to what, if any, degree the participants experienced difficulties in their day to day activities, such as getting dressed or bathing. The researchers also took measurements of the walking speeds of the contributors.

The study discovered that the participants who were found to have a lower sense of happiness and feelings of well-being were over three times as likely to say they had difficulties with their performance in regular daily undertakings.

Even though the research study chronicled, and not unexpectedly, that individuals who are suffering from chronic disorders had lower levels of satisfaction in their lives, the link between physical health and happiness and physical health is not only that that more content people are healthier. Older people who have a better enjoyment of life are much more likely to live nearly a decade longer, and the study shows that they also are able to keep up better physical functions.

Prior age studies had shown that almost three times more people in the study group of individuals which were over age 50 who stated they had low to no enjoyment of life had died when they were compared with applicants who said they were enjoying their lives.

That study took in consideration the isolation of seniors in society, such as having very little hobbies or few social interactions. There were considered as factors as loss of life enjoyment. It discovered that one in six people over the age of 50 were socially secluded. There was also the financial aspect as well to consider. Wealthier seniors were much less likely to be socially alone as individuals who were less wealthy.

In the newer study, it also showed that individuals with higher wealth and education were much more likely to state they were enjoying their lives. It also showed that people who were married and working also had higher scores on the happiness range than seniors who were single or retired.

The study has shown that older people who feel happier and are enjoying their lives have less declines in physical functions as they age. They do not have the rate of impairments in their daily activities such as getting in and out of the bed or dressing themselves. They also do not have the decline of walking speeds that those do who state that they have less enjoyment of life.

The research study has just shown what basically everyone already knows, people who enjoy their lives at any age will have a better quality of life than their more pessimistic counterparts

By Kimberly Ruble

Sources:

Headline and Global News

Medical News Today

The Telegraph

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