The five negative thought patterns that accelerate ageing

Scientists warn against the following habits if one wants to be remain young for longer

People spend oodles of money trying to make themselves look younger or better. But what if all that we needed to do was amend the way they think?

Elizabeth Blackburn, the Nobel-winning scientist and health psychologist Elissa Epel have researched the effect on telomeres for years. In their new book The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier and Longer, the authors explain how certain thoughts lead to shorter telomeres which can ultimately lead to rapid ageing and earlier death, reported Yahoo!

Telomeres are essentially the ends of our chromosomes which take note of what and how much we eat and exercise, among many other things. Their shortening is associated with ageing, mortality and age-related illnesses and diseases.



Blackburn and Epel suggest that certain thought patterns can trigger telomere shortening. One of them is “cynical hostility” which is a combination of anger and doubts about trusting others. “Someone with hostility doesn’t just think, ‘I hate to stand in long lines at the grocery store.’ They think, ‘That other shopper deliberately sped up and beat me to my rightful position in the line’ and then seethe,” Blackburn explains. The scientist also points out that those who exhibit such traits have been scientifically proven to be more at risk of cardiovascular or metabolic diseases and die younger.

The second negative thought pattern is pessimism. Research showed that people who scored higher on a pessimism inventory had shorter telomeres and also tended to die earlier. The third is rumination which is the act of rethinking problems.

The fourth thought pattern causing premature ageing is suppressing unwanted thoughts and feelings. Though pushing away anxiety-inducing thoughts may seem like a good idea it isn’t as, generally, the more you try not to think of a thought, the more it attempts to demand your attention. This exacerbates the amount of stress.



Finally, the last negative habit is mind wandering – something everyone does at some point in their day. A study by the authors showed that women with higher levels of mind-wandering had shorter telomeres.

In a nutshell, ageing can be accelerated or slowed and even reversed. Science has seen telomeres lengthening. One just needs to become more aware of their thinking.

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