Tony recorded this episode on the cusp of his 53rd birthday, which propelled him into reflection of his age, this time in his life, and what it means to approach senior citizen status. But moreover, the timing allowed him to question his own stereotypes about what it means to be an older adult.
On today’s dojo, Tony takes us through vast perspectives that we, as a society, have on age.
He talks about the linear relationship between age and disability; the older we get, the more likely we are to get a disability. He reflects on the messaging that seems to worship and promotes youth over aging, and the over exposure we have to that messaging. And what the research shows is that people who are exposed to aging messaging, have elevated levels of cortisol and blood pressure. The World Health Organization sites ageism as a major public health issue. Their research has shown that older people experience more discrimination when it comes to housing, employment, getting approved for certain financial situations, and all kinds of discrimination that tends to happen.
Why does this matter? More research is pointing to how when younger or middle aged adults are exposed to anti-aging or discriminatory ageism messaging, that when they become older, they are more likely to have a cardiovascular event than people who are reporting less exposure to anti-aging messaging.
In wrapping up his reflections, Tony talks about looking to other cultures, regarding how age is seen and respected, and how this could be helpful to abating a lot of the issues that are around ageism.
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