In fact, for a long time now, psychologists have dispensed the value of chronological age. For starters, they don’t consider it an independent variable as it can be manipulated.

Think of it like this. Researchers can’t tell a group of 30-year-olds to just be 60 years old for the day. So, studies on aging can’t be experimental as you can’t compare a treatment to a control group.

Figure out your true psychological age.

Your Psychological Age

Your psychological age is made up of two types of functioning.

Firstly, cognitive functioning is your ability to remember and learn. Secondly, your emotional functioning is your ability to manage your feelings.

As we age, we tend to have a little difficulty with some parts of our memory. If you want to hold onto a younger psychological age, you need to work on these memory issues.

On the flip side, as we get older, we get better at handling negative emotions. So, to stay young, you want to seek out more emotional highs compared to the lows that can make life seem chaotic.

Benefit number one of knowing your psychological age is that being older, emotionally speaking, has its benefits.

Memory

Your psychological age is a function of how well you use your brain to handle its cognitive load. Maybe you feel you’re forgetting little things. Like, you go into a room and forget why you went in there. Or, you head to the grocery store and realize you’ve left your list at home and for the life of you, you can’t remember what you’re meant to get.

You probably tell yourself you’re having a senior moment. Ditch that thought right now. Senior moments only happen if you think they’re going to. When you tell yourself your memory’s deteriorating, you increase the chances of it doing so.

So, look at what else could be having an effect on your memory, like anxiety or stress.

As soon as you set aside myths about aging and memory, you can move on to being your actual psychological age. Sure, it might take a little longer to react to and process any new information, but you can do it.

Benefit number two – take control of the aging process and keep your memory intact!

Mental functioning?

Mental functioning is a big age-related factor. It’s pretty hard to figure out just how much you can expect your mental functioning to slow down, especially if you can’t put your mind to the test in some type of lab.

But our brains need oxygen to function. You already know that aerobic capacity declines at a rate of about one percent per year. So, it’s safe to say our cognitive abilities do so, too.

The good news is that by knowing your psychological age, you can intervene and keep yourself as young and healthy as possible (that’s benefit number three!). The same way exercise can lower your rate of physical decline by training your body, so can it lower your rate of cognitive decline.

Once you start working out, your mental abilities are less likely to deteriorate. In fact, they may even improve. With regular exercise and activity, you can slow down the clock as much as 50% when it comes to your psychological age. On the other hand, if you’re convinced that you’re getting forgetful and even a little senile, you can speed up that psychological age clock.

Slow down aging

All in all, knowing your psychological age and taking the right measures to look after your physical and mental health can help slow down overall signs of aging. It makes you wiser, stronger, and more capable in every possible way!

Keep yourself fit and healthy at marksalinas.com today!

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