The Stimulati Experience by Jim Curtis

Author:Jim Curtis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2017-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

STIMULATI ROBERT WALDINGER: THE SCIENCE OF PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

Robert Waldinger, MD, is a Harvard psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen priest. He is the current director of the Harvard Medical School Study of Adult Development, which is possibly the longest study of adult life. For 75 years, his team (and his predecessor’s) has tracked the lives of 724 men. About 60 of the original men are still alive and participating in the study, and most recently, he added over 2,000 children of the original participants.

His research and his plain-language TED Talk inspired me to reach out beyond myself and create connections. He was able to quantify scientifically what many of us already suspected: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.

Year after year, his team would connect with the survey participants and through many types of data collection found that people who are socially connected to family, friends, and community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer than people who are less well connected. What’s more, the experience of loneliness is virtually toxic: People who are isolated are less happy and experience physical and mental health declines earlier. Close relationships buffer us from both mental and physical pain. In his study, the most happily partnered men reported that on the days when they had more physical pain, their mood stayed positive. But the people who were in unhappy relationships, or lacked relationships entirely, had their physical pain magnified by their emotional pain. Despite any physical issues, the men who are able to develop and maintain relationships, and consequently live the longest, are also the healthiest and the happiest. The combination of interaction, community, and connection is what seems to be making people healthier.1

The second important finding from his research is that like everything else in life, it’s quality over quantity. It doesn’t matter if you have 1 friend or 1,000, nor it is important whether or not you’re in a committed romantic relationship. The most important factor that predicts better health outcomes is the quality of close relationships of all kinds. And of course, if you have a purpose in life.

You can view his talk at www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness.

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