Pension can harm your brain. Here’s how to keep health.

For millions of Americans who retire every year, stopping work may seem a well -deserved break. But it can also cause major changes in brain health, including an increased risk of cognitive decline and depression.

Before retiring, you get up in the morning, social contacts with colleagues and dealing with mental challenges related to your work, said Ross Andel, a professor at Arizona State University, who studies cognitive aging and retirement. “Suddenly, after 50 years, you lose this routine.”

There is such an idea that the body and brain adapt when “they are no longer needed”, he added. “Then you see a deterioration and a natural response to inaction.”

But a pension can also be an opportunity to improve cognitive and mental health, with a fresh time for social and hobby. And even if you started experiencing a certain inheritance, there is forceful evidence that your brain can affect the periods of inactivity, even in ancient age, said Giacomo Pasini, a professor of econometrics at Ca Foscari University of Venice, who examines the impact of economic policy on the mental health of seniors.

Decline in cognition and mood

One analysis more than 8,000 pensioners in Europe He stated that the verbal memory of people (the ability to cancel a set of words after a certain time) generally fell faster after retiring, compared to work. Other A survey conducted in England He showed a pointed decline in verbal memory after retiring, although other skills, such as abstract reasoning, did not affect.

“There is some evidence that a pension may be harmful to cognition, because when you retire, you do not throw your brain as well,” said Glugielmo Weber, a professor of econometrics at the University of Padova in Italy, who worked on the study in Europe.

Tests He also found a link Between pension and the beginning of depression. Suddenly, the transition from “difficult -working professional life to lack of commitment can exacerbate a sense of worthlessness, low mood, sadness” and “solemn depressive symptoms and memory loss,” said XI Chen, a public health professor at the University of Yale, who studies aging.

The nature of your work – and the way you perceive this work – seems to affect the risk of falling. For example, scientists believe that those who worked in higher positions may show a pointed decline than others, perhaps because their identity was more related to their career, said Dr. Chen.

A study in Europe also showed that people who stopped working earlier than the standard retirement age in which they lived showed less than those who stopped working later, said Dr. Weber. This may be due to the fact that people who have previously retired may not have a mentally demanding work, which caused a more gradual decline after retiring.

Dr. Emily Fessler, assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, people who are forced to retire “due to health problems or gross aging” or meeting financial challenges in retired, can see more solemn effects.

And women may be less likely that they experience a violent mental or cognitive fall, potentially because it is more likely that men will still be Spend time with your family After retiring, Dr. Weber said.

The value of having a plan

Experts said that a pension may be an opportunity to grow instead of falling. The key is the location of work in advance.

Do not wait for retirement to plan your retirement.

“The plan cannot be:” I worked so difficult for so long that I intend to take such a long vacation, and then I intend to come up with it, “said Dr. Andel.

Up-to-date mental routines should be perfectly introduced and physically a few years before stopping to work, said Dr. Alison Moore, head of Gerontology and Palliative Care Division at the University of California in San Diego. Even if you don’t start them right away, you should plan in advance. Delaying these decisions – for example, whether to spend half a year traveling – until you retire, hinders immersion, she said.

The goal is to “rotate from one type of everyday life to another,” she said. “Opening fresh experiences, before you make this great change, can prepare you.”

Find a fresh goal.

“People could feel that their goal was to contribute to work, and when this was taken, they must come up with something else to take its place,” said John Beard, a professor of productive aging at Columbia University Medical Center. Research suggests that people with a sense of goal tend to Experience less A cognitive decline related to age.

In particular, the work of volunteers, in particular can helpDr. Chen said. Studies have shown that people who regularly volunteer in the field of pension show slower rates Biological agingAnd that they can leave from the cognitive fall, remaining dynamic and committed (without stress related to full -time employment).

Undertake to remain social.

People often lose social connections during a pension, said David Richter, a professor of surveys at the Department of Educational Science and Psychology at Freie Universität Berlin. “We have rather solid proof that the first social contacts are reduced and then cognition decreases,” he said.

Stop depression, cognitive decline and early mortality which may be with the participation social isolationDr. Richter recommended that the retired people would replace social or virtual meetings in a routine workplace.

He added that not all socializing are even, he added. The best actions are those that question your mind and support significant discussions with others; Think about book clubs.

“Listening to the radio, watching TV is not the same,” he said. “We really have to talk forward and back.”

Try fresh things.

Doing something imaginative and a novel can give you a sense of goal and keep the brain. Studies suggest that you can practice creativity, just like any other skill, said Jonathan Schooler, an outstanding professor of psychological sciences and the brain at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This may mean writing for a few minutes each day or an attempt to a fresh risky fresh recipe for dinner. Regular exercise is of key importance to brain health as aging, so you can also consider trying a fresh type of fitness class.

Dr. Schooler added that creativity can also escalate the sense of “meaning”. “There is great evidence that finding meaning in life gives great personal satisfaction.”