Mental fitness part of overall physical well being

The oldest baby boomers are beginning to put longevity at the top of their priority list. Child-rearing, their careers, and other issues that once headed the list are beginning to change. Here are some reasons:

• Their children are becoming more self-sufficient and beginning to leave the nest.

• The driven, competitiveness to reach the top, often experienced early in their careers, is being modified or replaced with a more relaxed acceptance of their accomplishments and beginning thoughts about retirement.

• Most marriages have become more stable, often after having survived financial struggles, child-rearing challenges, and wandering hormones.

Having gone past the half-century mark, their own mortality begins to emerge as a more prominent part of their consciousness.

Vitamins, nutrition, and diet, previously of less interest to many in their age cohort, are now assuming a more prominent place in their lifestyles.

Exercise is also becoming more important, and even routine, and is considered essential to those interested in life extension.

Sunscreen, face-lifts, hair transplants, and other cosmetic changes begin to be added to the arsenal that this group hopes will slow down the enemy--age and poor health.

Many in this fifty plus generation overlook the important and powerful contribution that a healthy psychological perspective plays in successful aging. Resistance to disease and disability is compromised by both the aging process itself and stress. Struggles resulting in chronic tension and fatigue, depressed and anxious moods, and feelings of discouragement and helplessness all increase the risk of a premature decline in health.

Those wishing to add a psychological component to their second half of life wellness program may want to consider the following:

• Self-control procedures practiced on a regular basis can assist in managing stress, improving sleep, lowering blood pressure, decreasing fatigue, and managing both anger and anxiety. Many techniques are available to those desiring to add this powerful self-help tool to their wellness program. Meditation and yoga, both offered at exercise and health facilities as well as community colleges, hospitals, and churches, can be of assistance. Training programs in relaxation, biofeedback, and self-hypnosis can also be of assistance. Practiced on a regular basis, these self-control procedures can generalize and spread from the practice sessions to all periods of wakefulness, thus enabling the individual to lower their overall level of emotional reactivity and neutralize the potentially harmful effects of chronically produced stress hormones.

• A concerted and dedicated effort needs to be made in the identification and reduction of various areas in one's life where stress, tension, and unhappiness occur. Decide that you are not going to spend the second half of life draining creative energy, putting out brush fires, struggling against obstacles that need to be removed or gone around, wallowing in self-pity, substance abuse difficulties, consumed by anger or bitterness, encumbered by unresolved grief, or beaten down with poor self-esteem. All of these things mentioned here can be modified or changed to increase what most of us call happiness and decrease the harmful side effects of these problems.

Decide that change is possible and essential for a healthy second half of life.

Copyright c 1997 Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D.