Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live
$17.49
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Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live
$17.49
DJE –
“Bias is woven through culture like a silver cord woven through cloth. In some lights, it’s brightly visible. In others, it’s hard to distinguish. And your position relative to that glinting thread determines whether you see it at all.” Evelyn Carter, Social PsychologistThe attention of bias research is directed largely towards gender and racial bias. There is less consideration paid to disability-related unconscious bias and little to age-related bias.Here, Professor Becca Levy’s work on ageism is a welcome exception. She tells us that “We need to confront our biases wherever they are.” Breaking the Age Code is a necessary book, an omnibus of information about ageism that for most of us is invisible.Levy writes, “Age beliefs affect all aspects of our lives including access to healthcare and work opportunities. Old people who go to mental health professionals with depression are less likely to be treated adequately.”Negative age beliefs are the most tolerated of all types of implicit biases. Too often we don’t realize that our age beliefs are the product of cultural biases rather than scientific facts.This book opened my eyes to a problem I should have been aware of, but wasn’t. Importantly, people with the most positive view of aging live on average 7.5 years longer than those with the most negative views. Age beliefs determine our life spans above and beyond the influence of gender, race, socioeconomic status, age, loneliness and health. Yet little attention is paid to ageism – until, perhaps, after you read Professor Levy’s essential book.
Joan Irvine –
Dr. Levy,Thank you for your research that proves our attitudes toward positive aging is so important. Love that our beliefs can add years of positive living to our lives.’Dr. Joan’ Irvine
Matt Robinson –
An important book written in a way that is informative and approachableRead it before you get “too old” (or even then!)
Rev. Ed Freeborn –
The professor calls it as she sees it and she sees a lot! Just who benefits from the negativity ascribed to older adults? A good question well answered by this book.
Brenda B. –
This is a really good book for a 70 year old retired person. This book gave me a positive attitude about my age. I realized it is really a great time to be 70 years old.
Mary –
Most positive book on aging I have seen. Author supports her thesis with studies. Not heavy academic but well supported.
Melanie D. Lipomanis –
I think everyone over 40 should read this book as a primer on how to frame their own aging. I wish I had read this before I started contemplating my own advancing age – now I am tasked with reversing negative thought patterns. Better late than never.
Julia E. Hubbel –
I am a very active writer on the topic of aging, and am myself an adventure athlete of seventy. Dr. Levy’s book absolutely gave me the validation I need for my followers that I am neither nuts nor am I an outlier. The lies are real and the truth is terrific news. Just wonderful news.If you think life is over after fifty, you gotta read this book. Talk about a new lease on life. Dr. Levy’s researcher reveals the world of options ahead of us if you do the right things: beginning with changing your ideas about aging. It all starts between the ears.
Yulu Pan –
Wonderful and ground-breaking. It helps me understand more -ism phenomena and toxic subliminal influence from physical and spiritual surroundings. Highly recommend for clinicians, researchers and workers in the aging field.
FrankP –
There are a great many books on how to exercise, eat, and take care of yourself to age well. Dr. Levy’s research points out that your attitude about getting older is at least as important as these other items. I came away with a much more positive viewpoint about getting older than I’ve had in years. Highly recommend this book
Paul Regan –
I retired less than a year ago, while the pandemic was still quite limiting, and was feeling way off my game. I’m thrilled to say this book was a real reset for me. My husband is reading it now and I expect that we’ll be having new adventures and more fun!
ellen m blakemore –
Thank you for writing this book. I am listening to it for the second time. In healthcare the majority of my coworkers are younger than me, and I have started to doubt myself, -then I listened to your book. Doubt, ha!!
Robin Enright Salcido –
This book was incredibly powerful. The scientific studies back up much of what I am learning in my own work with women over 50 about the power of positive age beliefs and, in particular, why these belief systems matter in our own health. The book should be required reading for everyone over the age of 50 as well as anyone who studies ageism. The focus on the power of our own inner perspectives as well as solid tools for how to be aware of negative stereotypes that might affect our belief system will change your life. Easy to read–I found myself nodding along over and over again despite not being aware of such studies! Bravo, Becca Levy! Keep up the good work and sharing your insights!
Peggy Halsegan –
This author is a PhD who has studied how your ideas and attitudes toward getting older can actually add (or subtract) years in your life. Fascinating. She also has practical tips on how to live your own life better if you are old (as I am now) and how to do your bit to fight ageist attitudes. After all, if we are lucky we are all going to live to a ripe old age. This author shows us how we can do it well without the rah rah – I found this book to have substance and it was a good read.
Chris S –
My husband and I were considering a retirement community. After reading this our plans have changed. Warning-once you read it you will see ageism everywhere and it will bother you more.
T. Hall –
Reading this book is as profound as walking is to your heart, I will keep referring to it daily.Skip buying the Corvette, this book will instantly make you feel 20 years younger.Geezer, ready to be put out to pasture, senile and frail are dangerous words to keep whispering to yourself and this landmark book explains why.
Amazon Customer –
Breaking the Age Code changed me. With the author’s evidenced based argument for a ‘refresh’ on the language and perception we attach to the subject of aging, I have begun to see and understand the million and one ways that we sabotage ourselves as we age.I recommended this book to all my friends and to the person, everyone says the same. This book is a game changer.
MC –
I believe this book is indicating the next major issue that must be solved for our economy. Not only do we have to change the “image” of aging we must also then create a means by which we can benefit from the knowledge and expertise of that aging demographic. We have to evaluate how to recognize and utilize the process of a productive life span.I find it so strange that those who are older are seen as “other” in our society. As “other” there is a decision that usefulness and productivity have ended. The research in this book is critically important in providing the evidence needed to move people beyond ageism and instead see aging for what it really is, that is, an opportunity to gain wisdom and knowledge, that may guide and contribute to the future.
Eileen Mydosh –
This book has totally changed my way of thinking! I just needed to have someone tell me that I Can learn as fast as my younger co-workers, I am valuable, and so much more. Read this book and you will feel much more positive about aging. Loved it!
AR –
What if there was a simple way to add years of health and happiness to your life and that of those you love? And what if that same way could shift society toward becoming a place of celebrating advancing years rather than cowering in fear of them?With “Breaking the Age Code,” Yale Medical School’s Dr. Becca Levy has given us just such a bold and helpful prescription. The best part? She backs it up.The book is a tour de force, showing how shifts in beliefs in aging from negative to positive influence a host of physical, mental and emotional outcomes. Study after study, some by Dr. Levy and some by other researchers in the field drive home the point that positive age beliefs are an extraordinary powerful driver of the aging experience.Lest you worry that they might be too many mentions of how C-reactive proteins levels are influenced by age beliefs, let me assure you that the book is a joyful and uplifting read. Dr. Levy, a keen observer of the human condition, has poured herself into this book and reading it is like having a conversation with a kind, thoughtful and empowering friend who wants your good.The book imparts paradigm-shifting wisdom in an understated and enjoyable fashion, with easy-to-understand tools and delightful stories. Both will stick with you long after you have finished the book. From the nun who completed 350 triathlons despite not having gone on her first run until age 50, to Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner watching Jeopardy nightly together while continuing to work into their 90s, the people you will meet are inspiring. They inspire not just with how they enjoy their own lives but in how they help others do the same. The 800 grandmothers and the Friendship Bench is a case in point. When Zanzibar faced a lack of providers of mental health services they recruited lay therapists to talk to people from park benches – and it turned out these empathetic grandmothers outperformed the doctors in relieving depression!This book is certain to have an outsize impact on the world – at least we can all hope that it does. Certainly it is likely to cause a rise in housing prices in Greensboro, VT, which Dr. Levy holds up as a community that lives positive aging. The book is intended to help all of us find our Arcadia, our place of connection, fulfillment and community at all stages of life. Perhaps more than any other book ever written it can give you both the hope and the roadmap to find yours.
ShannaShanna –
No matter what age you are, this book is life changing! Dr. Levy provides readers with thorough research, prompts personal observation and most importantly, actual tools to strengthen our own abilities to change or improve the way we view aging, in turn, increasing our well-being and length of life. Why wouldn’t one want to read this book?The stories are thoughtful and thought-provoking. The research is groundbreaking and global. And, the recommended practices are practical and encouraging.I am going to buy this for all my friends and family! It’s the perfect gift.
R. Williams –
I taught yoga for many years and one of my mantras for my students was “more flexible with age.” At first they laughed but then it started happening. Everyone thinks you get more stiff and inflexible as you age, but I noticed the opposite was happening, my older yoga students were more (physically and mentally) flexible than the younger ones! Breaking the Age Code provides the same inspiration (backed by lots of great research) about the simple act of improving our beliefs about age enhances how we live and interact each and every day. I loved the book and have already recommended it to lots of people in my tribe. R. Williams, co-author of The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction: A Guide to Coping with the Grief, Stress, and Anger that Trigger Addictive Behaviors.
Thomas Laube –
Dr. Levy is a scientist, but you’d never know it from the easy-to-read style of Breaking the Age Code. She combines inspiring anecdotes of successful seniors with data, and adds exercises to test your own assumptions about seniors and becoming one. I read this book as I approach turning 70, and am glad to have this inspiration for thinking about my “next” career. I was particularly interested in the studies of individuals with a genetic disposition toward Alzheimer’s, comparing them with others not carrying the gene, and how their respective perceptions of aging have more influence on the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s than their genetic makeup does.
Diogenes –
I’m age 85 myself — old enough to be wary of stuff that sounds too good to be true. So when I read a Wall Street Journal review of this book, I wondered if it was full of feel-good fluff on the power of positive thinking. To check on Levy’s credentials, I logged onto PubMed.gov (an online database of papers in medical journals). She’s the lead author or co-author of about 80 journal articles on aging and age-ism. I bought the book and read it immediately.The great appeal of Levy’s message is that, if you have positive attitudes toward aging, you’re likely to live longer — not just a little longer, but several years longer. And stay healthier, to boot. I found that easy to believe. I’ve been lucky — overall good health thanks to genetics and fairly sensible habits. I’ve also avoided most of the negative feelings about growing old. It’s nice to think that a positive attitude may offer an extra boost in a measureable way.Levy’s narrative approach — clearly a conscious choice — is to tell stories, rather than pile on one research citation after another. But the data she cites is impressive. For example, she addresses the chicken-egg question: What comes first? The positive attitude or good health at an advanced age? The data she’s found suggests that mindset is a crucial variable.She pays almost no attention to what I still consider real age-related physical disadvantages, but there’s a huge literature by fine writers that focus on those. (There’s also a huge literature on the tribulations of adolescence and the disappointments of middle age. Life can be tough at any age.) Her main point is convincing: that the downsides of aging are over-emphasized and its benefits are under-emphasized. She makes clear that marketing stuff based on fear of aging is a multi-billion-dollar industry.One aspect I found sobering. I’ve tended to take age-ism — prejudice against older people — as somebody else’s problem. I’ve laughed at age-ist jokes and have made more than my share of them. Even I don’t reform completely, Levy has convinced me that this is a bad habit. The parallels she draws with racism, sexism and anti-gay bias are convincing. Sure, I’m old enough to be entitled to some humor at my own expense, but it’s all too easy to take that too far. And it can be more hurtful, or even harmful, than I may realize.I’m not sure what I’ll do with my increased awareness of my own bias — at an age when I should know better. As a start, I’ll give my children (now in their 50s) copies of this book.
M. David Merrill –
I’m an 85 year old university professor. I continue to write, teach online courses, and consult. I’ve been wondering if it was time to really retire and discontinue these activities. Levy gave renewed enthusiasm to start a another online course and write another book.
The Mad Hatter –
I’m sharing this book with all of my friends. It, along with Lessons in Chemistry, can be life changing. I love them both.
C –
This book has ten main chapters, and a total of about 205 pages in the main body of the text. At the end of the book there are three Appendixes with lists of exercises to try, tips on how to fight age-related myths, and suggestions for societal changes to fight ageism.In the Introduction Dr. Levy describes a trip to Japan, where she began to study the impact of cultural age-related beliefs on the process of aging. She noticed many differences between Japanese and American cultural traditions around aging, some of which seemed to be having an affect on overall health of of the older population, and also resulting in longer lifespans in Japan.In the first few chapters Dr. Levy introduces and explores some of the different ways that age-related beliefs and mindsets seem to have an affect on health and longevity. She explains her framework of “Stereotype Embodiment Theory” (SET), and how the beliefs of the culture we live in affect our own personal beliefs; ultimately impacting our health “through psychological, biological, and behavioral pathways.” Dr. Levy describes experiments that demonstrate how age beliefs can affect memory and even physical performance. She cites studies that seem to indicate that age beliefs can even affect Alzheimer’s outcomes, stress levels, and mental health issues.The second half of the book focuses on other affects of age beliefs, including how they affect your lifespan. Dr. Levy describes some of the ways to foster creativity in later years, how to stay motivated, and even how to reinvent yourself. The last few chapters of the book focus on ageism; the places it shows up the most often, and what you can do do to fight against it personally, as well as systemically.This was a interesting and informative book, and I enjoyed reading about this topic. This seems to be a field that hasn’t been given enough attention in the Western world, and I appreciate Dr. Levy’s insights and research. She explains these topics in plain language that is very easy to understand, and even provides useful tips that you can use right away to benefit from this information.
Amazon Customer –
This book is a life changer!!
Dorothy V of San Francisco –
Very informative with great take away advice.
Linda C. Allen –
As we approached the baseball field a neighbor’s child greeted my husband with “Hey Old Man”. No reproach from her parents but I had no problem saying “That is an ageist remark”. Her mom laughed and I didn’t. Dr. Levy has written an easy to read book on aging and how societies influence our well being. I particularly like the exercises at the end of the book that have helped me to examine my own age beliefs and ways to make a change. Wish I had read this 40 years ago.
Jennifer L Dekker –
It’s the first time I read a book about ageing and ageism, and it has opened my eyes to the impacts of age beliefs on myself and others. For example, I was diagnosed with arthritis, a disease we nearly always associate with old age, when I was 29. I automatically assumed throughout my 30’s and most of my 40’s that this diagnosis would get worse with age and that I would age poorly because of it. I had negative age beliefs about myself and my health. Having read this book, I now realize that I have lost a lot of time thinking that way because I am in fact, no worse in terms of my arthritis than I was at 29 (I am 49) – so why should I let ageism affect my quality of life by believing I will age poorly? The author, Becca Levy points to so many ways our society, our family structures, our housing situations, our economics, etc… all vilify older adults when really older adults are major positive contributors to our world. This book has helped me see my own ageing differently, and those who are ageing around so very differently, and much more positively. Thank you for such a life-changing book.
Xia Linping –
As its subhead said, Breaking the Age Code is a book about how our beliefs about aging influence or determine how long and well we live.Dr. Becca Levy is a pioneering scientist and the world’s foremost expert on the psychology of aging. This book revealed a stereotype about aging in our daily life and provided us a new landscape of aging from individual to social aspects, and from physiology to psychology. She is both a professional and a great story-teller. I was moved by tears many times when I read this book because it reminds me constantly of my own grandparents. In this book, Dr. Becca Levy shows the genetic, environmental and especially psychological effects of aging, interspersed with her own experiences.In China, we also facing problems in the aging of the population. More and more young people choose to not get married or have children, so the aging problem will be severer. It is an interesting and informative book, which provide a new opinion of aging. It is a book worth reading by all of us because we all will inevitably aging. And by reading this book, when that time comes, I believe we can be more positive and relaxed.
alan603 –
An extraordinarily-documented work by a stunningly-able researcher systematically debunking stereotypes about seniors, this book transformed my awareness of ageism in society, it’s destructive influence, and offers crucial awareness that our false presumptions about decline in old age shorten life for those who accept them.
Berniepr –
Dr. Levy’s research and this engaging book give us all hope that aging can and should be a positive experience. Unfortunately Breaking the Aging Code also highlights the persistent agism in our society that paint older people as frail and forgetful. The hope lies in Dr Levy’s studies showing that those of us with positive aging beliefs can and do live longer. Her book challenges all of us to confront ageist stereotypes all around us and embrace positive aspects of aging. This is an important book that is a good read for middle agers and older active agers like me.
Adrian G. –
Beyond just being cool and phenomenal science about aging, and how to do it well and happily, is that this book has completely shifted my ability to see ageism and to root it out in my own biases. This book is so good, so well written, chock-full of advice and also made me a better person. Definite must-read!
Charles B –
Fabulous and timely book!
John E. –
This book lays out a track for you to run the rest of your life with vitality, enjoyment and purpose.
Jill Blas –
It’s great to get an authoritative view of what the consequences of getting old are, especially as the message is largely positive. I’ve been surprised that I haven’t felt particularly infirm or less competent even though I’m now eighty, and I’m not alone among the people I know. Now I have a better understanding of the aging process and wonder why ageism hasn’t been taken more seriously before.
Margo P –
If you are old, no anyone old or ever will be old the information, meticulously researched is something you must read
Amazon Customer –
This book is truly an eye-opener regarding ageism in the United States. A must-read
Mel Ler –
I am 61 years old and have been fearing growing older. But this book has given me optimism that I can live for many more years as a very healthy and active person. I cannot collect my full social security until I am 67 years old. This means that I have to work until at least 67 years old in order to be able to retire comfortably and access all of the money that I have put into the social security system.I have experienced age discrimination in job interviews. Fortunately the industry that I have been in which is building out the infrastructure for cell phones to work, recognizes the contributions of older people and how we revolutionized the communications industry worldwide. I work with a lot of younger people who do not have the experience that I do and so far I really enjoy teaching them and being their mentor. The younger people do not have the experience in this industry that the older people do. But we do need to pass on our knowledge to them so they can plan for their future.
Darby Patterson –
America needs more books like dr. levy’s … Breaking the Age Code is fundamental to individual successful aging but critical to a society that’s got its values backwards. Knowing how we regard aging as a concept in this youth oriented culture is enlightening and a call for self examination. I find her book to be a tool for creating a better future and returning our elder generation to their rightful place – respected and honored. I’m grateful for her work and hope to hear more from her!
Adolfo Borges –
You learn that, if you really watts to get rid of “ageism prejudice”, try to see that age makes you “to grow” and not merely to transform you in an old person. A must reading book!
Dr. Connie Catrone –
Dr. Levy’s book presents a ground breaking interpretation of research regarding the many factors contributing to ‘how one ages’. She integrates research regarding cultural norms and values, structural and systemic biases ( ageism) with our social, familial and personally held age beliefs. She identifies through research as well as personal experience how our personally held ‘age beliefs’ influence the quality of our aging, psychologically as well as physically. Yes how we think can and will make us more likely to be sick and physically compromised as we get older! As an almost septuagenarian, I learned much about how to confront and manage my own internalized ageism and how to deal with the structures and culture that impact me daily. I recommend this book to anyone who is aging!
Eric Caplan –
Few eminent scholars have either the time or patience to speak to a broader audience. In part because they fear that making their life’s work accessible to lay readers may have the perverse effect of diminishing their status among their professional peers. But the bigger reason, I suspect, is that after years of clawing for tenure and promotion, many have lost whatever talent they might have once possessed to write a good sentence. How delightful then that Yale Professor Becca Levy is neither burdened by fear nor bereft of talent.Breaking the Age Code is a brilliant book. But more than that, it offers us an exemplary model of how an accomplished scholar at the height of her game can make a difference in the lives or mere mortals. How? By making the fruits of her labor both comprehensible and exciting to a lay audience – a task that sadly few scientists of her stature can pull off.As a soon-to-be sixty something myself, I cannot begin to express how deeply moved I was Professor Levy’s argument – not that we are “as young as we feel” (which is a silly argument), but how adversely we can be affected by the images that others hold of us and which, to our detriment, we unwittingly internalize.But there’s a way out of this bind. Professor Levy convincingly demonstrates through rigorous and robust experimental results and colorful examples that we need not be burdened or bound by deleterious stereotypes of aging. That we can break, not so much the code, but the social construct that suggests being of a certain age means we are no longer __________ (fill in the blank). That while we cannot live forever, we all have an opportunity to live longer, happier, and healthier lives.
T. Anderson –
At 75 I was surprised and then not to discover that age discrimination often comes from ourselves. “I’m too old to do that,” is an example. Who says so? Often just ourselves. All age groups will find this informative and interesting, but older folks may find that reflecting on their age beliefs is more immediate and relevant to what goes into, literally, tomorrow’s action plan.