Stress in old age

This week we had a visiting professor from Israel specialised in ageing and stress. To some extent this is rocket science in this country, as part of the research focuses on the anxiety of people when faced with rocket attacks. But they also use American research from people exposed to hurricanes.

The key question is whether older people are better able to cope with this kind of stress than young people. Is resilience getting stronger with age? And what dimensions of stress may change with age? You would expect that old people have more experience and know what to do in stressful situations. On the other hand, they may be a bit less flexible.

The theory of coping with stress goes back to the flight or fight response. There are many videos on Youtube explaining this. I like the one with the guy jumping away when a car suddenly drives into the pavement. It is then explained how you react in an emergency situation like that, what will happen to your muscles and to your hormone production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2GywoS77qc

But going back to the question whether older people react differently. The evidence is mixed. For both hurricanes and rockets it was found that older groups experience less post traumatic symptoms than younger people, especially the middle aged groups. That is not completely surprising, as people in middle age have to cope with jobs and families. There is a difference if you just have to get the newspaper in the morning when there is a hurricane raging outside or you have to bring the kids to the nursery school and be in time for work. The professor herself experienced it when having to go for lectures to the university when there was an imminent rocket threat. Still old people seem to deal a bit better with psychological aspects and accompanying negative emotions. They report stress less often when they experience it (instead, they complain about the weather).

On the other hand, in old age stress is more often experienced through somatic symptoms, like slipping away and falling down more often. Existing health problems in old people like high blood pressure,cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and digestive problems are intensified by stress. Stress hormones are released and absorbed slower and have a longer impact. Both ageing and stress hormones will impact immune functions. Old adults experiencing stress are vulnerable to infections and viruses like flu even when they are vaccinated.

So we are not sure about the relationship between old age and stress. But we know that over time stress can even be passed on to next generations. The classic example is post traumatic symptoms in a second or third generation holocaust survivors. Remarkable enough it can be shown that this is also the case for any positive effects. Resilience is also often higher in third generation holocaust survivors. The big question is how to pass the good things and block the bad.

Finally, is it possible to be happy and stressed at the same time? Yes, according to the professor. That is good news for me, as the coming weeks will be busy. I will be a happy, stressed and little bit old man.