Modern science is catching up with ancient wisdom. A new study shows words and outlook can benefit your health and increase your chances for a longer life, by as much as six years.
Ever since the first the first words were chiselled in stone, the written word has been a powerful tool - sparking revolutions, waging wars, and breaking bones.
Can words heal? Can they help you live longer? The ancients thought so.
Kind words can warm for three winters, while harsh words can chill even in the heat of summer. -Chinese Proverb
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.- Proverbs 16:24
According to a study at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, that examined the autobiographical writing- of 81 well-known psychologists at an average age of 65, those who used “social” words such as ‘friend’ ‘talk’ and ‘us’ more frequently tended to live longer. According to Sara Pressman, who headed the study, “Individuals who used the most social words (the top 1/3) lived approximately 6 years longer than those in the bottom third. This was true even after statistically controlling for their year of birth, gender, and the year that they wrote their life story” Psychologists who considered human interaction important and therefore used those words to describe their life increased their longevity by as much as six years.
Many philosophers and poets have observed the social nature of people. As John Donne, a Sixteenth Century English poet, observed, “No man is an island.” Nevertheless, many of us feel isolated. We may see many people in the course of our daily lives but we often do not connect to others in a meaningful way. We feel isolated when we do not think of ourselves as part of a group.
Psychologists work in groups, they lecture, study with others, and observe fellow human beings. It is a highly social profession. Still, there are always degrees. Just like all other people in various professions, some psychologists will be more social and feel less isolated than others. Those who see themselves as part of a whole have so much more to look forward to and therefore live longer.
The autobiographical writings were from well known and esteemed psychologists. Their lives were deemed worthy of being in a set of encyclopaedias published between 1930 and 1989. Social recognition in itself can give anyone a greater reason to live but couple that with a feeling of belonging so strong it spills over to their writing and that can make a difference of a few more years even a decade. As Sara Pressman observed, “We think that this is a reflection of the importance of social ties in the lives of the psychologists. Those who devote more of their life stories to
talking about family, friends, co-workers etc. may have more or better
social ties than those who do not talk about social network members.”
If you want to live longer, start recognizing the people in your life, your family, friends, work colleges, people you interact with on a daily or even weekly basis and build your own support group.
Source:
Sarah D. Pressman, Michal Kollnesher, Sheldon Cohen- Social Word Use Is Associated With Longevity In A Population Of Well-Known Psychologists – Abstracts from Am. Psychosomatic. Soc March. 06
