Throughout the course of recorded history, there has been a reoccurring trend wherein women outlived men. This was not unique to Terman’s patients but rather it is a repeated theme in multiple studies. Data shows that those who were more masculine, regardless of gender, lived shorter lives while those with a higher feminine valence. A masculine female subject lived a shorter life, but not as short as the masculine male subject while a feminine male subject lived a longer life, but not as long as a feminine female subject. This difference may be attributed to the fact that many ‘masculine’ traits included unhealthy, brash habits such as smoking whilst many ‘feminine’ traits promoted safe living and vibrant social groups. While I am years away from confronting the issue of outliving or not outliving my spouse, the entire possibility that I may be alive to witness the death of my spouse and that I may have to live my last years lonelier is rather depressing. It makes me question whether or not longevity is worth it if you end up outliving your friends and loved ones.
The next chapter focuses on a similarly grim topic: the effect of war, trauma, and depression on longevity. What was particularly fascinating was that the curing of depression does not improve longevity. It is because it is not considered a cause of a diminished life, but rather it is the byproduct of other stressors that more directly influence one’s longevity. So while it is beneficial to seek ways to improve one’s depression (because it may lead to poor habits, self-harm, and even suicide), it is not typically the root source of a shortened life.
I thought that it was interesting that you said that curing depression did not improve longevity. I would like to take the perspective that though depression is a byproduct, I believe it also is a stressor itself.
I think that there cases where depression could be considered a stressor because it was the ultimate factor that caused the individual to do an adverse action.
I think that there are times where depression deters individuals to feel happy the way they once did. However, I also agree with you that there are instances where individuals are more impacted by the effects of depression.
Hey Tai,
I also thought it was depressing to see that people who exhibit more feminine traits tended to live longer lives. I personally think I am not the most feminine person, but I wouldn’t like to correlate my longevity based on my masculine traits. The book also has many other factors that play into longevity that it is hard to pin down one factor to link to longevity all together.
I agree it is depressing to see that it is a possibility to outlive your friends and loved ones, but like I said before, there are so many other factors that come into longevity and quality of life. As we are reading this book, we see that factors such as health behaviors and job satisfaction come into play. I personally think that life has so much to offer, and though friends and loved ones are a significant component to life satisfaction, I believe we can adapt in our situations and we’ll face things as they come.