To live long, there are many guidelines and much to avoid. There is now published data suggesting boredom is a risk for an earlier death.
One who is engaged in health reads the litany of things that are detrimental to our existence, and it seems impossible to believe that average lifespans are rising. There are the obvious toxins like trans-fats, smoking, high fructose corn syrup and the pancreas-stressing flesh of the pig. There are lesser known life shorteners like immobility, meanness, not having a pet or enough sex and possibly even EMF from electrical devices.
Now we have boredom as a risk. UK researchers describe in the International Journal of Epidemiology -a journal slightly less prestigious than the New England Journal – that boredom was associated with an increased risk of an earlier death.
More obviousness makes it to print.
For sure, the aging process is inevitable, but it can be slowed and many do so. Exercising the body gets most of the press, but activity of the mind and maintaining a sense of worth or purpose, remains a consistently observed trait of the healthy person of any age. In other words, not being bored.
At least, it would seem on the surface, boredom should prove less daunting a problem to treat than danish eating. Macbooks, bicycles, books, gardens and Polar Bear plunges are just a few of the therapeutic tools available to overcome this newly discovered risk to longevity.
JMM