A Happy Brain, 5

In his TED talk, Dr. Robert Waldinger, the fourth director of the Harvard study of happiness and satisfaction, presented some research results from this 75-year study.

 1.  The quality of your close social relationships matters. Living in conflict may be more detrimental than a divorce. 

2.   Individuals who were the most satisfied with their relationships at age 50 were predictably healthier at age 80.

 3.  Good relationships help protect the brain as well as the body. Study participants who had relationships that they felt they could count on, were more likely to maintain their memory functions. 

4.  Those who were happiest in retirement were those who replaced their ‘work mates’ with ‘play mates’—family, friends, and community

Do you need to give up conflict with friends and family or even actual feuds? They are lethal. Do you need to replace screen time with quality people time? Have you developed close reciprocal and rewarding social relationships, perhaps including family-of-choice friendships? Your level of genuine happiness, health, and longevity may be at stake.