The difference between those with great mental fortitude and those who “bend” in difficult times.
Mental toughness can add years to our lives, according to a major new study. As he showed, people with a lot of mental reserve have a lower chance of early death than those who “bend” in the face of adversity.
OR mental toughness is that a person faces difficult situations in life and comes out stronger. In the present study, the researchers evaluated it based on certain parameters such as:
- Perseverance
- Tranquility
- A sense of purpose in life
- Self-sufficiency
- An acknowledgment that we have to deal with some experiences alone
The study was conducted on 10,569 volunteers. They were over 50 years old (median age: 66 years) in 2006–2008. 59 percent of them were women. Researchers followed their health for 12 years. Meanwhile, 3489 of the volunteers died.
Findings
New research Published in the medical journal BMJ Mental Health. At the beginning of the study, the volunteers filled out questionnaires that allowed the scientists to assess their mental stability, the researchers wrote.
According to the level, the volunteers were divided into categories, which were then compared with all-cause mortality.
Mental toughness was strongly associated with mortality risk, the researchers found. In fact, the higher it was, the lower the risk of dying during the study. The association was stronger in women.
In fact, each standard deviation (SD) increase was associated with a 25% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause. Standard deviation is essentially a measure used to calculate the difference from the mean.
When major health problems (diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc.) were taken into account, the difference remained high (almost 21%). It remained significant even when smoking and other lifestyle habits were taken into account (almost 19%).
People with the highest mental endurance were 53% less likely to die during the study.
What increases mental toughness?
The researchers point out in their paper that many factors can affect sustainability. These include a sense of meaning in one’s life and positive emotions.
Other contributing factors are satisfaction with health and social support.
However, they note that this study is only an observational study. Therefore, a causal relationship between mental resilience and reduced mortality cannot be established.
In any case, the new findings reinforce the importance of feeling satisfied with life and social relationships in old age, they conclude.