Not to jump on the bandwagon, but there’s a lot of talk about age and memory in the news right now. I turned 60 last year, so I have a unique perspective on, and some immediate concerns about, aging. Especially aging with bipolar disorder.
As I watch my generation grow older, and our parents move well into their 80s, I watch most of us get more conservative and unreasonably fearful about everything from conditions in our neighborhoods to our prospects for the future. We olds annoyingly cling to an unsupportable opinion that the “good old days” were somehow better than today, even in the face of lengthening lifespans, life-enhancing technology, expanding civil rights, and, for many, more secure material wealth.
Yes, you can point to countless examples of myriad threats to liberty, security, and wealth, but every generation has done this. Throughout history. Always. Maybe with good reason. But history’s heroes have seized all of these threats as opportunities. And the world has gotten better. I’d argue, as a self-aware and honest old person, that old people are mostly incapable of doing this. They constantly confront an urge to revisit the past and project the worst of the worst onto the near future, when things aren’t really that bad at all. We have a duty to step aside and leave the leading to the young.
Thomas Jefferson, who lived to be 83, wrote that a generation fit to lead was aged 34 years past the age of majority (21), at which point their influence and policies should “naturally expire.” The brightest light of the American enlightenment thought we were all finished at 55.
So what’s an old person, in the face of cognitive and cultural decline, to do? Jefferson also wrote that the hobby of his old age was “the illimitable freedom of the human mind.” An older person can develop an amazing sense of history and perspective and, in the best of all worlds, share this knowledge, if it is truly free and nonjudgmental, with the younger generation of leaders who are all too often saddled with recency bias and decidedly ignorant of how we have approached similar problems in the past. They might even listen to us if we stop trying to run things and telling them they’re wrong all the time. Only then can generations complement each other and achieve true progress – in the health of individuals and society.
How does this relate to seniors with bipolar disorder? Cognitive decline is real. It occurs at an earlier age and is potentially more severe than in the general population. Mania may occur less frequently, but incidence of depression increases and deepens. Improvements in healthcare are crucial, as age-related changes in metabolism risk making medicines that have helped keep a patient stable for years less effective. Co-morbid conditions become more severe, especially cardio-vascular disease, which edges out suicide as the leading cause of death in 60-year-olds with bipolar disorder and occurs at a rate five times that of the general population (suicide risk may decline due to survivability bias – coldly put, those who were likely to kill themselves have already done so). But stay positive. Young researchers and doctors are on the case.
To this seemingly dismal prognosis we with bipolar disorder can bring a tremendously valuable spirit of advise and consent to those who follow us. Both those with mental illness and those without. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder way back when it was still called manic depression and treatments were a lot less effective with far more miserable side effects. Things are better now. I’ve learned how to apply the adjunct therapies I write about in my book to make both mental and physical health improve. Meditation can keep the mind sharp and lower the stress that precipitates many episodes. Movement can improve physical health and help stave off cognitive decline. Meaningful work can keep life more consequential and vital.
All of us who reach 60 and beyond with mental illness are enviable examples of strength, adaptation, resilience, and fortitude. Those close to us and the world at large can learn tremendous lessons from our struggles and successes. Our stories matter.
To bring it back to Jefferson and his delightful spirit, potential, and contribution of the elderly: We with mental illness, perhaps more than anyone else, have experienced the illimitable freedom of our minds. Our minds have gone to places of creativity, promise, terror, and enlightenment that few people ever experience. We have a unique perspective on the potential of the mind, and have lived lives of versatility that can serve as true inspiration for anyone younger facing the challenges of life.
If you have bipolar disorder and you’ve made it to your senior years, hell, even if you don’t have bipolar disorder and you’ve made it to your senior years, stop being such a harbinger of doom. The world is full of beauty. Life is good. It’s given you these years. Make the best of them and spread the word.
"Olds"... Star Trek reference?
As usual, some insightful perspective and commentary. I know you have a young daughter so it's natural that you have some of her perspective; understandable.
Still: I am in my 60's and yes I am old:
I am scared that women and girls have lost the legal right to control their bodies, if impregnated. They are dying and suffering, and being charged with murder, when 50 yrs ago, they would not have.
I am scared that the first ever American insurrection/overthrow of election results (exc. The Civil War) is not being called an insurrection nor being held accountable by the highest court in the our country, and that it isn't a steady stream of conversation. I am scared we are all supposed to say to each other that, sure, we're doing just fine, if asked.
I'm scared that the "b word," a slur for women, is now being normalized on TV and in the media -- this was not the case 30 yrs ago, it is much worse now. You would have had to go see any X/R rated movie or at least pay for HBO, to hear that word normalized.
I'm scared that men who are credibly and openly accused of raping women, & sexually harassing their employees, are on The Supreme Court, and in the White House. At least, decades ago, a prior president quit over (unrelated) criminal allegations and another prior president was impeached regarding the allegation of lying about sexual harassment -- now, it's just: "so what?" Yes, that legit creates a much more dangerous life for women and girls, nowadays.
I'm scared that mass shootings by angry white males are no longer shocking, and that children have to go through practice exercises in school. (I understand that for my parents' generation, they had bomb-drills during WWII -- but school shooting drills are not progress since MY generation.
I am scared that I cant see in my blind spot when driving, as the rear window on my car is merely decorative, due to increasingly diminutive windshields & "swooped" body shapes -- and that the car is undriveable if anything happens to that rear view camera, or the blind spot alarm.
I am scared that many of my friends are dying in their 50's and early 60's. Many of the people who grounded me, from my 20's, 30's, are gone, and mostly they died suddenly.
I am scared that I can no longer go to see a play or to an indoor gathering of any sort because covid is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and there is mass denial that wearing masks will help -- so I'm left to dangle, alone.... and I'm scared that people act like the million people didn't die, and aren't still filling emergency rooms. I'm scared that they don't seem to care or even acknowledge it. I was very ill. My friends died. I'm scared that we're pretending it didn't happen and isn't happening.
I'm scared that when I have a conversation with someone, they normalize looking at their phone, or answering any phone call, text or email, instead of looking at me. And that they're doing it while driving, and that my car was totaled over this behavior. I'm scared seeing that this has crossed over into medical care as well, while even Medicare is becoming more and more privatized so I won't have a choice of walking out on those drs. who do ignore me. I'm scared that i'm forced to sign forms at the drs' offices, agreeing that my medical information is now being shared with... anyone.. or else I am denied treatment. ("The youngs" don't even read what they're signing so they have no way of knowing this.) I'm scared that male medical professionals are still calling me sweetheart and honey and touching my knee repeatedly, when i've just met them -- and that there is no policy against this that is enforced.
I'm scared at how disposable human beings have become, to each other.... that people won't speak to each other, yet they consider a text, tweet or Facebook message, an actual conversation -- and that they refuse to do any other form of communication (outside of a very narrow circle) -- thereby engendering arguments and atrocious comments that would never be said, face to face. And I'm scared, and yes, ANNOYED, that if I don't have this implement tied to my hip 24 hrs/day, *with* a charged battery, I don't find out about a job offer, or a meeting, or even of a death of a friend. And I'm beyond annoyed that it is so damn much work to figure out how to use the right emoji or the exact words to write so that communication isn't misunderstood, whereas a 2-way live conversation would have been so much more clear, easy and time-saving -- and lead to less misunderstandings.
I'm scared that young girls are being exposed to men in their locker rooms, and women/girls now have to worry about men being in prison with us -- where we literally cannot escape. And that the Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival is allegedly changing it's name to... what..... the People's Theatre Festival of They/Them? -- and that if a woman says ANYyhing about any of this, she is forced out of (what passes for) civil society. Civil rights for women in many ways have regressed. (Maybe you don't count women, when you made your civil rights comment?)
I'm scared that men -- even those who "identify" as men and were born male -- can go to The Women's Center and get a free attorney, when their wives and girlfriends charge them with domestic violence. There is then no free attorney for the actual victim -- convenient, huh.
I could go on, but.... THATS what's wrong with The Olds. So you know.