Unlock the Secret to Mental Longevity: How Finding Your Life's Purpose Can Ward Off Dementia

So, ask yourself what excites you, or could excite you if you were to throw yourself into it. Find your passion and go for it!

Image by Ivana Tomášková from Pixabay

Do you have a sense of purpose in your life? A mission that feels larger than your own existence? If so, an amazing new 14-year longitudinal study finds that you’ll be far less likely to develop dementia in your later years.

I didn’t grow up Jewish, but early in my life my parents and two of my mentors impressed upon me the importance of Tikkun olam (קּוּן עוֹלָם), our collective and individual obligation — by virtue of our birth here on Earth — to help heal the world.

That led me from joining SDS in the 1960s, to being ordained and pastoring a church in Detroit for two years in the 1970s, to getting rostered as a psychotherapist and writing about ADHD, to Louise and me starting a community for abused kids, to doing international relief work on five continents.

Louise (who shares this belief) and I have also started and eventually sold five successful (and one unsuccessful) businesses during our 53 years of marriage, and every one of them had a mission statement that included the concept of helping, inspiring, or healing people.

Occasionally, friends our age will ask why we haven’t retired now that we’re in our 70s, and our answer is always the same: “We still have so much work to do!” I frankly can’t imagine curling up in front of the TV or taking a cruise around the world instead of doing everything I can to try to make this a better place for humanity and all life on Earth.

And now we discover that that very sense of purpose may be keeping us young and insulating our brains from the sort of deterioration that’s so common among the elderly.

This remarkable study published in the journal Neuropsychiatry documents how people who’ve developed both full-blown dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in their later years were found to have lacked — as much as 3 to 6 years earlier — a sense of purpose in their lives. As the authors of the study noted:

“Considering different well-being components, those who developed MCI had lower levels of purpose in life and personal growth beginning 3 years (−0.126, 95% CI −0.251 to –0.001) and 6 years (−0.139, 95% CI −0.268 to –0.009) before MCI, respectively.”

While the research couldn’t definitively conclude whether a lack of a sense of purpose was the cause of MCI and dementia, or if it was merely an early indicator that MCI and dementia were on their way for other, presumably organic, reasons, they were clear about the correlation:

“Our findings suggest that reduced psychological well-being, even in the absence of evident cognitive impairment, may serve as a predictor for impaired cognitive function in the long-term.”

The research also raises, but doesn’t answer (these long-term studies take a lot of time — this one followed over 900 people for 14 years), another fascinating question: Could discovering or intentionally deciding on a purpose in life — even in your later years — help mitigate or even reverse mild cognitive impairment or even full-blown dementia?

Certainly multiple studies over the years have shown that simple social engagement is critical to staving off or slowing the progression of many forms of dementia and impairment. I’d argue that having a sense of purpose and acting on it daily is at least, if not more, important.

And it need not be Mother Teresa stuff.

While Louise and I have chosen to jump into high-profile, big-bite social works to satisfy our sense of purpose, we know people who are just as passionate about helping raise their grandchildren, volunteering with local welfare organizations, or participating in their church or politics. Louise’s mother, who’s as sharp as I am at 94, is evangelical about her garden, her pets, and sharing her life with her children.

The bottom line is to never surrender to the siren song of the marketers who want you to give up and sit in front of the TV or on social media all day, every day. The world needs you!

So, ask yourself what excites you, or could excite you if you were to throw yourself into it. Find your passion and go for it.

Your brain — and those around you — will thank you…