How to Have Fun Is an Overlooked Skill in Aging

Age Wave CEO Ken Dychtwald sees a lack of geriatric experts who focus on having fun as a lost opportunity, citing a study co-authored with Merrill Lynch that older adults have seven and a half hours of daily leisure compared to four hours among 35-to-44-year-olds, reports the Wall Street Journal . Moreover, the Stanford Center on Longevity's Laura Carstensen says older adults are generally happier than younger ones, with stress, anger, and worry declining with age. She says the things associated with fun can counter stress, depression, and anxiety. It often involves being with others, and this is connected to better cognitive health in later life and a lower probability of developing dementia. A 2011 study published in the American Journal of Play found "playful older adults are psychologically upbeat: they are happy, optimistic, cheerful, joyful, positive, relaxed, and enthusiastic individuals." Fun typically does not consist of being kept busy by other people. "There's a real sense of choice," says Boston College Professor Peter Gray. National Institute for Play founder Stuart Brown also notes loneliness "is ameliorated when older adults find a group and have a playful interaction."