Aging well as an introvert
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I cover personal health.
Considering all the research around socializing and longevity, some introverts can be forgiven for feeling worried.
People who have strong relationships generally live longer, and the unicorns known as “super-agers” — older adults who have the memory abilities of someone 20 years younger — tend to be especially outgoing. On the flip side, chronic loneliness raises the risk for cognitive decline and even early death.
But experts say it doesn’t take much socializing to reap those longevity benefits. It’s less about the sheer number of connections you have, and more about what those connections do for you.
Our relationships contribute to health and longevity in critical ways: They provide emotional support, cognitive stimulation, care during times of crisis and motivation to have healthier habits. If your current relationships check those four boxes, you’re probably in pretty good shape. But if you’re missing one or two, it may be time to re-evaluate your social network.
1. Emotional support
Emotional support typically comes from a few close friends or family members. You should feel comfortable confiding in these people and talking through important issues with them.
When people feel lonely, it is often this emotional support that they’re missing, according to Dr. Ashwin Kotwal, an associate professor of medicine specializing in geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. And that feeling can be bad for one’s health.
Experts think that one of the primary reasons loneliness is harmful is because it is inherently a stressful experience. Stress causes inflammation, and if someone is lonely for long stretches of time, it can lead to chronic inflammation. Long term, that increases the risk for heart disease, cancer, dementia and other diseases.
2. Logistical support
The same people who offer emotional support may also be the ones who make your day-to-day life a little easier. Maybe they give you a ride to the airport or drop off a meal when you’re sick. That network becomes even more important when bigger issues arise, like the loss of a job or a serious health diagnosis.
According to Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, four to six close relationships is a good number to aim for. That way, you’re not too reliant on any one person.
3. Healthy habits
Our relationships can also motivate us to take better care of our physical health. Research shows that people with supportive social networks are more likely to exercise and eat a healthier diet, as well as go to doctor appointments and take prescribed medications.
For some, a spouse or grown child might play this role; others may have walking buddies who keep them accountable.
The drive to be healthier can also come from within, Kotwal said: “You’re demonstrating the value of those relationships by taking care of yourself.”
4. Mental stimulation
The benefits mentioned above often depend on friends and family. But when it comes to mental stimulation, the experts recommended looking outside your home or tightknit circles. That’s in part because conversations with strangers or loose acquaintances can require more of you cognitively, since you have to be more precise with your language than when talking to those who know you well.
The conversations you have at the grocery store or during your commute can all provide this type of stimulation and be beneficial for health.
Of course, a person’s subjective experience of their social life is important. If someone doesn’t feel lonely, even if they’re alone, they won’t have such a harmful stress response, Kotwal said.
But don’t use this as a reason to stay home.
Instead, Holt-Lunstad advised, “focus on socializing in the context that you feel comfortable, rather than just not socializing at all.”
Trump plans to meet with Putin again
President Trump said yesterday that he planned to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks to discuss ways to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump announced the plans after a phone conversation with Putin that lasted more than two hours. He added that senior officials from Russia and the U.S., including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would meet next week. The Kremlin confirmed that the leaders had talked about a new meeting, about two months since they met in Alaska.
Trump is scheduled to hold talks today at the White House with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is likely to ask for more U.S. weapons, in particular Tomahawk cruise missiles. They would be the longest-range U.S. weapons provided to Ukraine thus far. The Kremlin said that Putin had warned Trump against sending the missiles to Ukraine.
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MORE TOP NEWS
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For two decades, and throughout a 13-year civil war that left half a million people dead, the Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad relied on a network of henchmen to support his rule, writes Christiaan Triebert, a reporter on our Visual Investigations team.
These men tortured civilians. They built and used chemical weapons. They ran drugs that helped fund the government. They ordered the bombing of hospitals. And when the regime fell in December 2024, many of them simply vanished. My colleagues and I set out to uncover evidence of their alleged crimes and find out where they might be now — in Russia, for instance, or plotting revenge from Lebanon.
We chased down fragments of information — a photo of a lavish Damascus home posted to a neighborhood Facebook page, the name of a small village mentioned in a sanctions document, a phone number with a Russian country code discreetly shared with reporters — and added the journalistic legwork of reading legal filings, knocking on doors, calling people’s friends, family and co-workers. Read about how the officials got out, including the middle-of-the-night flight that carried many of them away.
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SPORTS
Cricket: The Athletic spoke with Marnus Labuschagne about his and Australia’s prospects for the Ashes, which begins next month in Perth.
Football: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s 18-year-old star, made Forbes’s list of the 10 highest-paid players.
PHRASE OF THE DAY
Mall World
Thousands of people on TikTok and Reddit have said they dream of the same space, an abandoned labyrinthine mall complex that might include a hospital, a school, an airport and an amusement park.
MORNING READ
Space fans of all stripes descended on a university campus in California last week to spend three days immersing themselves in all things Mars. There were sessions on a Martian constitution and how to brew coffee on Mars.
The convention was hosted by the Mars Society, whose mission is to get people to care about reaching the red planet. “I’d definitely answer the call of a one-way ticket to Mars,” one attendee said. “For so many of us dreamers, it’s been in our imaginations for so long, that actually doing it isn’t such reach in our minds.” Read more.
AROUND THE WORLD
What they’re stealing in … London
If you live in the British capital, you’ve at least heard the stories: A person is texting or chatting away on the phone at a crosswalk when someone — usually masked and on an e-bike — speeds past, grabs the phone and disappears into the distance.
Some try to chase the perpetrator. Others are too stunned to act. Either way, in many cases, their phone is gone.
A record 80,000 phones were stolen in London last year, making the city a European hub for the crime. For years, police officers in the city assumed that most of the thefts were the work of small-time thieves. It is now clear that some were part of a multilayered global criminal network. Read more.
RECIPE
Pignoli — Italian for pine nuts — and almond paste aren’t the cheapest ingredients on the shelf. That’s why pignoli cookies, or pinolate, are the royalty of Italian cookies, popular especially in Sicilian communities. One sweet-toothed reader said: “Sandwich two cookies with chocolate ganache if you want to go all out.”
WHERE IS THIS?
Where is this beach?
BEFORE YOU GO …
Katrin here again. This past week, I’ve spent most evenings at the cinema. I do this only once a year, for the London Film Festival. I’ve seen several gems already, but I especially wanted to bring one film to your attention: “It Was Just an Accident,” by the Iranian director Jafar Panahi.
The premise is heavy. A group of torture victims kidnap a man they think is their former torturer. What does justice look like? Revenge? Closure? It’s a moral thriller. It messes with your empathy. But what makes the film truly great are these wild moments of generosity and laugh-out-loud levity. (The police officer who has a card reader ready for bribes!)
Also, Diane Keaton. She died last Saturday. And whether or not you love “Annie Hall” as much as I did, please watch this insanely charming interview Stephen Colbert did with her in 2012. She was the greatest.
Finally, my world song of the week is by Cortex. It’s called “Mundo.” Vibey and slick. I hope you like it.
Have a great weekend.
TIME TO PLAY
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Katrin Bennhold is the host of The World, the flagship global newsletter of The New York Times.
The post How to Live a Long and Healthy Life as an Introvert appeared first on New York Times.
