“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it.”
Proverbially, hard truths or great wisdom bluntly erupt from the mouths of babes, but there is much insightfulness to be garnered from elderly individuals – even those who may not be perceived as experts in the field they are discussing. Take George Burns [1896-1996], the American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who was as known for his sharp wit as for his longevity. The above quote was his layman’s perception of the most important prerequisite for a long life.
Coming from a man whose healthy lifestyle endeavours may best be described as patchy, if not outright contentious (Burns was famous for a strict sports regimen, counterbalanced by an unrepentant love of cigars), you may be tempted to brush off his wisdom.
But you’d be mistaken, and sorely so.
Of course, when it comes to longevity, the importance of appropriate nutrition, regular movement and sufficient sleep – while limiting stimulants! - cannot be overstated. And there are already multiple channels promoting these pillars of public health.
But if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past years, you may have noticed increasing talk of stress, tension, burnout, trauma, mental illness, not to mention neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders (with their mental health comorbidities),as central contributing factors to ill health and premature ageing.
So, is that why seemingly “everyone” is suddenly outing themselves as suffering with burnout, depression, neurodiversity, or from the fallout of adverse (childhood) experiences?
Obviously, it could be just part of a growing movement to anchor neuro-mental* health in the diversity, equity and inclusion spectrum. But perhaps it is (also) one more internal territory that has been annexed by the (social) media monster to wake the exhibitionistic or voyeuristic instincts that slumber in many of us …?
Alternatively, we would like to suggest that when a VIP confesses to being bi-polar, there may be far more to it than grassroots advocacy, policymaking or glossy gossip.
While the zeitgeist may have fostered this emphasis on neuro-mental health as a key to overall health and longevity, science is definitely catching up and offering us increasingly hard facts.
But before we delve into the ramifications of mental ill health on human biology, it pays to briefly foray into why neuro-mental health has become the ultimate health and longevity frontier.
Indeed, as late as 2009, The Guardian reported on a British survey disclosing that more people would be prepared to come out of the closet as gay, admit to a drinking problem or bankruptcy than publicly divulging a mental health issue.
This striking finding illustrates a very understandable reluctance to face the bleak spectre of unemployment, partnership issues and social isolation – to name but a few aspects of potential discrimination linked to mental health.
More than a decade and a half later, we are not quite out of the woods yet, but the signs are promising: from pioneers such as Jim Carrey and J.K. Rowlings opening up about struggles with depression in the early 2000s to, more recently, Lady Gaga owning her PTSD, Emma Stone her anxiety or Trevor Noah his ADHD, not to mention the wave of public sympathy and support that washed over Lewis Capaldi, when he experienced a Tourette’s episode while performing on stage in Glastonbury in 2023.
Of course, you may retort that these celebrities could “afford” to speak out about (or publicly experience) their issues, and that the average Joe or Jane Bloggs is still liable to encounter discrimination – be it “only” occupational...
Nevertheless, as with most formerly taboo areas such as chronic disease, family problems, sexual orientation, addiction or other real-world issues, celebrities are usually the harbingers of greater mentality shifts.
In the case of neuro-mental health, however, they are just the tip of the iceberg, and their public outings have been preceded by tectonic shifts in the perception and treatment of this issue.
Entire books can be and have been written on the gradual de-stigmatisation of neuro-mental conditions over time. So, in this context, we can only offer a short and very broad-brushstroke sketch of this evolution.
First of all, it is important to recognise that the history of de-stigmatisation has been far from linear. Indeed, one can detect different strands and timelines that have slowly fed into each other to create a momentum for change. To name just a few of the most important developments that gradually took place over the course of (either) the 19th and (or) 20th century:
· the advent of modern psychiatry and clinical psychology,
· the definition and development of new diagnostic categories,
· hence more widespread and refined diagnoses,
· the development of new forms of (psycho)therapy,
· novel drug-based interventions,
· the original “discovery” of stress and more recent offshoots such as burnout,
· the recognition of more holistic/integrative or so-called “biopsychosocial” models of health,
· the progressive de-institutionalisation of mental health and the “anti-psychiatry” movement,
· leading to a variety of community-integrated programmes for outpatient care and, more recently, telepsychiatry and -psychology.
As with the status of most diseases, this slow shift has been enabled by the incremental secularisation and scientification of society. Indeed, nowadays, we rarely look to spiritual or theological explanations for neuro-mental disorders and can approach them with potentially less stigmatising physiological or biopsychosocial modalities, like we would treat e.g. diabetes or cancer.
If there is any remaining stigma, it tends to be linked to the actual presentation of the disease, its severity (hence the potential for effective treatment), its diversion from consensual reality, as well as how it may hinder “productive” employment and social inclusion. Typically, rarer diagnoses such as e.g., borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia unfortunately still evoke a deep-seated unease (or even fear) that has delayed a more mainstream acceptance and integration.
But neuro-mental disorders are so ubiquitous and present in such manifold ways and degrees that we should all be concerned about their impact on our lives and the lives of the people we love.
Indeed, the WHO states that mental health, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions affect as many as 1 in 8 individuals worldwide and that up to 85% do not have access to specialised care yet.
Hence, it is high time to stop shying away from discussing an epidemic of these proportions, with such far-reaching consequences for our health and longevity. So, our focus in part 2 of this series will be on much more common, yet perhaps all the more insidious presentations of neuro-mental imbalance.
What do we mean?
Yes, you’ve guessed it: stress and trauma and their effects on health and longevity.
So, read on in Part 2: coming soon!
* We use the unusual compound adjective “neuro-mental” to cover disorders that are often labelled as either psychological, neurological or neurodevelopmental. We choose this broad focus on disorders of both the brain and the nervous system – such as forms of depression, psychoses, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), addictions, forms of dementia, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), specific learning disorders (SLD), communication disorders, etc. These disorders cause a form of psychosocial dysfunction or maladaptation that impact at least some areas of daily life as well as overall health and longevity. Furthermore, the treatments for these disorders usually straddle both psychiatry/psychology and neurology, not to mention neighbouring medical domains.
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Sources and further reading
“Quotations by authors: George Burns [1896-1996]”. The Quotations Page. Online: https://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/George_Burns/
“George Burns”. Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burns
Cainelli E, Bisiacchi P. “Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Past, Present, and Future”. Children. 2023; 10(1):31. doi:10.3390/children1001003. Online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/1/31
O’Hara, Mary, “Mental health is strongest taboo, says research”. The Guardian. February 20th, 2009. Online: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/feb/20/mental-health-taboo
“15 celebrities get super real about their mental health issues”. BBC Programmes. 2017. Online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4cVPjcFly4TrNWq0XR5lmz7/15-celebrities-get-super-real-about-their-mental-health-issues
Leung, Rebecca. “Carrey: 'Life Is Too Beautiful'”. CBS News. November 18, 2004. Online: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carrey-life-is-too-beautiful/
“J. K. Rowling One of Many Who Has Felt Suicidal”. ABC News. November 5, 2008. Online: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/story?id=4542880&page=1
“Lady Gaga says she has PTSD after being raped at 19”. BBC News. December 6, 2016. Online: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38218247
Fisher, Luchina, “How Emma Stone learned to deal with her anxiety and panic attacks”. Good Morning America, October 02, 2018. Online: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/emma-stone-learned-deal-anxiety-panic-attacks-58229370
„Trevor Noah: The 60 Minutes Interview“. YouTube. June 19, 2022. Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_gyL3o6dIs
López Restrepo, Manuela, “Lewis Capaldi's Tourette's interrupted his performance. The crowd helped him finish”. NPR. June 26, 2023. Online: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1184395554/lewis-capaldi-glastonbury-set-tourettes-syndrome-mental-health-crowd-eilish
Gronholm PC, Thornicroft G. “Impact of celebrity disclosure on mental health-related stigma”. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2022 Aug 30;31:e62. doi:10.1017/S2045796022000488. Online: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/impact-of-celebrity-disclosure-on-mental-healthrelated-stigma/087EA2D893AB48F1431660D977018794
„History of mental disorders“. Wikipedia. Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mental_disorders
Farreras,I. G. (2025). “History of mental illness”. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from: http://noba.to/65w3s7ex or https://guides.hostos.cuny.edu/psy142/1-4
“WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health”. World Health Organization. Online: https://www.who.int/initiatives/who-special-initiative-for-mental-health
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