Does being optimistic help me to age more slowly?

Question

I read an article that says that the superyoung (people who look at least 10 years younger than they are) are really optimistic and happy people. Is this true? Is there any cause and effect relationship between mental health and biological age?

Answer 1

Being optimistic is not the only factor but people who were prepared for physical losses, and who were nevertheless optimistic, were better able to maintain better physical functioning, and lower depressive symptoms. in the study below it was concluded that ageing well may depend both on public policy and societal efforts that work against stereotypical views of ageing, recognizing instead the diversity of the ageing population, and on encouraging individual optimistic views and active behaviors to promote healthy ageing. Optimism buffers the detrimental effect of negative self-perceptions of ageing on physical and mental health.