“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” – Jerry Seinfeld

My biggest fear in life is getting old.  After googling and reading a dozen “Top 10 fears” lists and not seeing anything about aging, it appears I’m alone in this.  In my mind it’s one of the scariest things we face.  It’s looming in the future for all of us and the stats aren’t pretty on the subject:

• As of 2007 there were 1,368,230 residents in certified nursing homes – that’s pushing 10% of people over 75
• 88% of those over 65 years of age have at least one chronic health condition
• Almost 20% of older Americans suffer from a mental disorder that is NOT part of normal aging
• 25% of the elderly have experienced cognitive decline (becoming senile)
• 20% of people over 65 have diabetes
• 20-25 percent of the elderly in nursing homes are clinically depressed
• Almost 60 percent of people age 70 and older experience some type of loneliness

There’s two things causing all of these statistics:

• Bad diet and lifestyle which causes the diseases
• Our culture’s dismissal and marginalization of the elderly which causes loneliness and high nursing home numbers

One bit from Healthy at 100 that stands out to me is the following:

Few of us realize that there are in fact societies of people who look forward to growing old, knowing they will be healthy, vital, and respected.

I wonder what that’s like…