Wellbeing is one of those words that if asked what it means, you’d probably be hard-pressed to come up with an exact definition. There’s no consensus or single definition for wellbeing, Prof Rose Anne Kenny, medical gerontology at Trinity College and St James’s Hospital, says, but there is a general agreement.
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“It is the presence of positive emotions and moods like happiness and the absence of negative ones, like depression and anxiety. Being satisfied with your life, feeling fulfilled and having a positive physical function as well. In public health terms, it is probably defined as ‘healthy and full of energy’.”
Wellbeing is pertinent at any stage of life, Prof Kenny says. “It’s not just about young people or old people or people in middle life. It’s throughout the whole lifespan.
“A person should be in good physical health, economically stable, have good social engagement, good friendships, be emotionally stable, without depression or anxiety, and in a positive state of mind – where you perceive yourself positively, you’re satisfied with life, have a purpose in life and you’re engaged in a variety of activities. That’s the range of factors that you can use as benchmarks to determine if someone has ‘good wellbeing’.”
Gender divide
Is wellbeing different for men and women? “Sometimes, it can be,” says Prof Kenny. “Sometimes it declines in men if they’ve worked all their life and they haven’t prepared for retirement.
“Women live longer than men, and if women are widowed, that will impact their wellbeing. Women seem to suffer more than men from empty nest syndrome, when children leave the home. Certainly, cardiovascular ill-health is more prevalent in men. Depression, in Ireland anyway, is more common in women as they get older. It’s variable with your person and life circumstances.”
According to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) for which Prof Kenny is the principal investigator, quality of life gets better after the age of 50 and continues to improve to the late 70s and early 80s, and only then does it tail off a little bit. “Mostly, any decline in quality of life in older age is driven from having an underlying physical illness.”
Married people tend to be happier, the evidence shows, and single people are not as happy, she says. “It’s mostly about social isolation and not having someone to share life with. However, single people who have elected to be single and have created a good circle of friends can also be very happy.”
She says that men are happier in a marriage relationship than women and than single men. “Men on their own tend to have poor wellbeing.”
Wellbeing in younger people
“We’ve noticed with Covid – and we’re not sure if Covid has caused it or unmasked it – that anxiety and depression are more common in younger people. I think they have particularly suffered because of social isolation and the fairly major changes in their expected life activities. People who were expecting to spend the first year in college and so excited, then found themselves two years later without a university experience, for example.”
Prof Kenny says it’s really important that individuals and society are aware of and ensure that counselling services are available for young persons. “Poor mental health is one of the most common reasons wellbeing is impacted negatively.”
Room to improve
Prof Kenny says first and foremost it’s important to perceive yourself as young. “You are as young as you feel.” Quality friendships are important – as is laughter and having a purpose in life.
“A good night’s sleep is really important. If we don’t get a good night’s sleep we’re fatigued and poor sleep can trigger anxiety and depression and general poor wellbeing.”
A good diet, managing weight and regular physical activity are key, she says. “It’s important to have regular doctor’s checks and get tests done, get your blood pressure measured, just to see all of the physical signs – that are sometimes silent but can lead to diseases – are well-managed very early on to ensure longer and better wellbeing.”
Cold showers, meditation, engaging with friends and activities, and limiting alcohol intake are other ways to improve wellbeing.