Submitted by ItsYaBoyKevinHere t3_z7b3z9 in LifeProTips
I’m 23M fairly healthy, what changes/things should I do now to maintain my mental health later in life
Submitted by ItsYaBoyKevinHere t3_z7b3z9 in LifeProTips
I’m 23M fairly healthy, what changes/things should I do now to maintain my mental health later in life
Not just exercise, but complex movement. Ballet is ideal, martial arts are also very good. Also, keep doing new things, learning new skills that combine mental and physical exertion.
Travel to places with different cultures and languages. Keep your mind busy with new things that force your mind to learn and adapt. Keep a good mental higiene (or preventive mental health or whatever you want to call it). Mental illness has a high frequency in life (like depression or anxiety) so don't run away from psychologyst like many people do.
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Would rock climbing be good, I climb about 3 times a week
My understanding is that as long as it still has you thinking, yes. If it ever gets too cognitively easy, it's less good, but not at all bad.
Well I have ADHD so i kinda need electronics for reminders... Fuck
What about challenging brain workouts like puzzles, memory games etc? Does that help at all?
Absolutely! Utilizing your memory skills with puzzles and logic games helps a lot. Soduku has been listed as one of the recommended brain games.
Thanks , wasn’t sure if scientists still think that helps.
I often sleep quite deeply but I don’t get the 8 hours unfortunately, 7 hours weekdays and 9 on weekends. I’ll try and incorporate more antioxidants and Omega-3s. I go to the climbing gym 3 times a week and try to do cardio on my days off. I manage anxiety and stress unbelievably well basically nothing gets to me and I have a great support system in case it does, plenty of friends I can depend on. I have a meeting with my doc in January, I’ll bring these up to her then.
Yeah, about that stress management… a great deal of it is just being 23. Give it a few years.
A living will.
My mom was very clear that she didn't want any medical attention once she was non-verbal.
She wanted the highest level on non-intervention possible. No antibiotics, no surgery, no IV hydration, nothing.
It made our lives SO MUCH easier, because that is often the best thing to happen (it speeds death for people who don't want to live that way) and we had absolutely no doubt or second guessing because she was very clear while she was lucid.
Make your desires clear, write them down and give them to many people so someone who disagrees or loses strength in those last hard hours doesn't mess with your plan.
No matter what level of care you choose, write it down.
I totally agree. Depending on the country, you can also make your living will at a notary to make it official. it avoids a lot of problems: in many countries you else have to go to court to decide important things for your family who are not able to express their will anymore.
I’ll keep this in mind for sure. My condolences for your loss, my mum passed recently as well.
There is some evidence that high blood sugar levels contribute to Alzheimer's. Eating less carbs can be helpful.
It’s being called Type 3 Diabetes.
Yeah op is on keto now
Well that ought to do it.
I am being sincere. I've heard keto will prevent sugar related illnesses.
No?
Its sarcasm bruh smh
Sorry, it’s hard to glean sarcasm from text and some other comments seemed to think I was on Keto as well so I just wasn’t sure if there was something in my profile that led people to believe that 😂
Nah dont worry i said that ironically because of how dumb was the comment of that person telling you to eat less carbs
High blood sugar levels as in diabetes?
I believe so, and pre-diabetes, and insulin resistance. I'm not a doctor, I just know what I've been reading.
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Get a NeuroPsychologocal Evaluation before experiencing memory loss of decling cognition to determine your baseline.
Find a neurologist as a part of your care team.
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Thanks for your service brother 👍🏽
Good to know
The unfortunate truth is the less you enjoy yourself, the greater your chances of avoiding alzheimers/dementia.
Don't eat processed sugar, don't drink alcohol, don't be overweight, sleep 8+ hrs/night, and the list goes on.
So basically, avoid fun whenever possible.
Some would argue that’s a narrow view of what it can mean to enjoy yourself…
The perspective in the field of dementia advocacy would say it’s a narrow view to say that people can’t enjoy themselves. They’re people with often a great deal of remaining possibilities that we can support them in. There’s an abundance of information and options to support living well with it that are disregarded by those who insist that it’s no longer possible to enjoy life. I can point to 100s of people who prove that wrong, every day, and they deserve all the support we can give them in that.
I’m a specialist in living well with dementia (it’s a thing) and this is one of my frustrations! Most prevention is about limiting enjoyment of life and attempting to control every action for decades, and it often comes from fear-mongering that relies on stigma and stereotypes about dementia. My stance is that people can be supported to live meaningful lives with dementia so I’m far less concerned about preventing it than about creating a world where people are accepted and supported if they experience it. Everybody deserves support to enjoy life, with or without a diagnosis.
Dang…
I personally have chosen to simply enjoy myself and not think about it too much. I've prepared by having a living will, people I trust who are empowered to enforce it, and access to a death with dignity when I feel the time is right.
I appreciate your point, but I would disagree that avoiding alcohol, sugar, sleeplessness, and obesity equates to avoidance of fun.
If you believe alcohol, being overweight, eating processed sugars and the like are the only ways to "enjoy yourself", you sound like the kind of person to avoid.
Nice false equivalence.
>So basically, avoid fun whenever possible.
I have fun studying a new topic.
Learning a new language.
Reading a book.
Learning a new skill.
Playing sports.
So, according to you and your suggestion I should avoid all those things in order to have greater chances of avoiding alzheimers and dementia.
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The only things that came up to your mind when thinking of "having fun" and "enjoying yourself" were self destructive habits, such as drinking, overeating and eating unhealthy food.
My point stands. You're definitely the wrong person to be around.
YMMV. Sleep is awesome, being overweight feels like crap and I hate drinking! Fun is highly subjective, dude.
See a reliable attorney about establishing a trust which clearly includes your wishes for care and treatment in the event of dementia/Alzheimer's onset. Include things like conservatorship, level of care, etc. Consulting with family and medical professionals can also help in this regard, and may provide peace of mind and allow you to enjoy life more now.
Learn to dance. Any kind of social dancing combines physical activity with split second decision making and creativity. Multiple studies show that this reduces cognitive decline later in life and is especially helpful for people with dementia or alzheimer's.
Oh great to know, my grandparents do line dancing at the seniors center
Talk to your doctor.
Will do, thanks
Good luck! Don’t avoid it, monitor it and if ever necessary, take the meds. You’ve got this!
Gut health. It’s the one thing we have now proven to be linked to things like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
We are sure there is more, but gut microbiota is one we KNOW adds to it
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Probiotics & fiber.
Eating a wide range of healthy foods that feed and support your microbiome, particularly soluble fibres which act as prebiotics. Focus more on feeding your microbiome than "adding to it" with probiotic supplements. Supplement companies fund and conduct studies in ways that make their product seem beneficial, but the truth is, we don't really know if those probiotics you buy on the shelf of your health food store actually colonise the gut, and whether those particular strains of bacteria are what your gut needs. Keep in mind that your gut contains 300-500 bacterial species, whereas probiotic supplements often contain only 1-30.
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I’ve heard this too, any links to how to maintain good gut health?
Play mahjong Push your memory now, as much as you can.
Same for crossword puzzles, or any puzzles.
Keep learning new skills. It keeps your brain active.
My Chinese coworker found this response very funny, I’ll keep in mind memory training things, I have ADHD so my memory is definitely not 100%
It’s advised to keep your brain occupied. Do interesting and varied things, never stop learning and developing. Avoid stagnation, play games rather than just watching stuff.
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Consider adding lions mane mushrooms to your diet. If they aren’t available in your local grocery store there are also supplements or you can grow your own.
Oh good to know, I do like mushrooms
All of these comments, and I would add to ask your doctor about sleep apnea—especially if anyone has ever told you that you pause while breathing in your sleep. I’ve read a few studies that indicate this may be a contributor.
My girlfriend says she can tell when I fall asleep because I’m super quiet, my dad used to have a very small sleep apnea thing (doesn’t need the mask or anything) I’ll ask my doc about it
Good sleep is what the current wisdom says. And easy on the sugar.
You're 23, Alzheimers may not be an issue by they time you arrive at it, so don't worry about it too much. Don't forget to live in the meantime. We cross our bridges as we come to them.
Been working on lowering processed sugar input, that sleep thing tho dang. I get ~7hrs weekdays and 9 weekends
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The big three:
Diet, exercise and keep sharp mentally. For keeping sharp mentally, think about doing puzzles or games - especially word puzzles.
This may be helpful: https://www.healthline.com/health/alzheimers-disease-prevention
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Look up fasting or intermittent fasting for brain health. There’s some good articles (like real, medical-journal articles, not YouTube/internet stuff) about the benefits of fasting for preventing dementia or delaying the onset. If you’re already doing keto then you’ll understand the mechanisms already, most likely.
I was doing IF but my doctor said I had to stop because of the medication I started taking 😞
This might be too much, but here’s a link to a ppt on how lifestyle can be used to reduce dementia risks. OP can follow many leads from this. Good luck. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/medicine/geriatrics/images/Friedman-Preventing-dementia-through-lifestyle-handout-021021.pdf
Long-term care insurance
Alright, thanks. I do live in Canada so I’ll check if this is perhaps covered by out healthcare but I’ll keep this in mind
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While Alzheimer's is a form of dementia, not all dementia is not always Alzheimers. I mention this because there is a lot of research centered around understanding and developing treatments for Alzheimer's specifically. Anyway in general though, regular exercise and avoiding becoming lonely are two major preventative things you can do to reduce your risk of developing dementia.
Ah I see, thanks for the response. I go rock climbing about 3 times a week and try to do cardio the other days
Learning languages could help a little bit
Hmm I’ve been really interested in learning ASL I’ll keep this in mind
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Stay away from the city smoke. Period.
Live with my dad in the country now, definitely not a city guy so hopefully I’ll be able to get a country home too when I eventually get enough money to move out.
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Yeah haha, my girlfriend lives on a horse farm and while I’m not a city guy I’m definitely not a farm guy so it was quite a shock when I was just having lunch and my girlfriend showed me a photo and said “I think these doors would look good on our Barn”
Damn near choked on my food before going “our what?!?”
Dayum Hope you get a good old big red farm
And the doors too ofc.
Keep the mind sharp with memory games and puzzles. If you can manage to memorize a sequence of more than seven numbers and recall them days later, you are in the right track. The average person can only recall seven numbers or less.
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Cognitive reserve exercises.
Consume something called the heavy metal detox smoothie recipe by Anthony William daily for 3 years
Hi, thanks for the response but I’m not really interested in Homeopathic suggestions. ☺️
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Studies have linked cooking in aluminum pots to Alzheimer’s as well, so avoid cooking with aluminum. Really I would avoid try to avoid acidic things in aluminum packaging as well (that’s really what they say with aluminum pots - acidic things strip some of the aluminum from the pot and pull it into your food, and ingesting it is the problem). Last I knew aluminum was in some antiperspirant/deodorants as well.
Yes, cans are supposed to be lined. “Supposed.” But cans are considered non-perishable so how long before the acid in that tomato sauce eats the lining and some aluminum?
https://youtu.be/BHVDMcJn2YE coconut oil and MCT oil
Hi, thanks for the response but I’m not really interested in Homeopathic suggestions. ☺️
ThisSorrowfulLife t1_iy60v5l wrote
Sleeping 8+ hours uninterrupted, a healthy diet rich in antioxidants and omega 3's. Exercise. Keeping blood sugar and blood pressure stable. Taking care of your mental health including managing anxiety and stress. Seeing a doctor is also important because they may pick up on indicators and stressors that can help you in the future.
One thing I'd highly suggest is also limiting electronics for reminders and utilizing your memory skills.