The More You Fear Aging, the Faster It Happens

Chill Out: When we’re young, we can’t wait to get older so we can do cool grown-up stuff. But once we are grown up, aging starts to seem a lot less fun. Worrying, even. New research from New York University has found that worrying about getting older — in particular, fearing declining health — may actually speed up the aging process. 

The Study: Researchers examined data from 726 women participating in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. They answered questions about how much they worried about various aspects of aging, including changes to appearance and future health problems. Researchers also analyzed participants’ blood samples using two “epigenetic clocks”: the speed of biological aging and estimated accumulated biological damage over time. 

The Takeaway: Greater anxiety about declining health later in life was more closely linked with faster biological aging. Worries about declining physical attractiveness or fertility, however, were not associated with faster aging. The researchers did not determine why this happens and said they can’t rule out other factors, including unhealthy anxiety-coping behaviors, like drinking or smoking.

Keep in Mind: The study found a correlation between worry and aging but did not conclusively find that anxiety about getting older causes faster aging. Still, it likely won’t hurt to just chill out a bit about aging.