Both men and women are usually hesitant to speak about their real fears, and when research and surveys are conducted to find out what really bothers them, close to half report of the fear of growing old.  Age-related matters that people fear most include health concerns, the ability to continue self-care, and emotional and cognitive issues that supposedly deteriorate as a natural result of aging.

Mental health institutes nationwide conduct endless research aimed at addressing issues correlated with the aging process. One of the most striking discoveries they have made is finding out that mental decline associated with aging is not totally inevitable.  So it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will lose or wane on your cognitive functions as you age.

A particular study was conducted among a same set of senior citizens at different points in their aging life.  They were evaluated based their performance on a set of similar tests given when they were age 70, 75 and 80. A percentage of the subjects showed cognitive abilities that remain unchanged throughout the three tests, which just shows that brain fitness can be achieved even during the twilight years. The human mental abilities such as perception, long and short term memories, verbal and logic skills can be optimized to ward off mental decline usually associated with aging.

Mental health experts recommend simple procedures or exercises that maintain good brain function as a person ages. These exercises are not mentally taxing on the individual – in fact, they can be both fun and functional. The key is to exercise perceptive ability regularly, ideally on a daily basis. Mental exercises are designed to sharpen all five senses, and a combined variation of these exercises each day will help the elderly attain optimum mental health even as they age. So where you think you are weakest, it is best to engage in these exercises to attain a healthy mental balance.

Exercise to improve sight: Pick an object within your surroundings each day. It can be something in your garden or the street, or even a photograph.  Draw your perception of the object on a piece of paper – this is designed to exercise your short term memory. Now make a note or title of the object or photograph you just drew.  Repeat this throughout each day of the week and at the end of 7 days, take a look at your list of titles.  Sit down to redraw each of the 7 objects in your title to exercise your long-term memory.

Exercise to Improve Smell, Taste and Touch: You can maintain your ability on these three senses by doing a fun exercise daily.  You can do some of these by yourself, while others will require you to have a partner or playmate.  Grandchildren can be great playmates in this exercise; it also provides a time to bond and have fun with them. You can work out your smell and touch perceptions by closing your eyes, picking up an object at random and try to identify it based on its shape, texture or smell.  You can do the same with your grandchildren and also ask them to make you guess certain tastes by feeding you healthy stuff while you are blindfolded.  Boy, will they love this! And I’m sure you will, too.

Exercise to Improve Hearing:  This is another fun thing to do.  Your hearing can be greatly improved by simply picking up the phone when it rings and trying to identify the other person on the line before they can introduce themselves. It works up your cognitive hearing abilities and works your mind at the same time.  Another good exercise is to listen to music of your times, recalling the lyrics and even the artists who performed the tune.

Exercise to Improve Your Structural Ability: Jigsaw puzzles are a great way to exercise your ability to create structures from disparate elements. If you engage or used to work on creative crafts or artworks, it is also worthwhile to get back to them and continue doing this type of productive activity to practice and maintain your perceptive control over structures.

Exercise to Improve Your Memory: For once, do something out of the ordinary.  If you’ve always been doing your grocery shopping with a list in your hand, try doing it without one.  If you’re in the habit of shopping at a particular supermarket, you’ve already worked up a system in your mind throughout the list.  Your brain has probably stored a visual map of all the grocery shelves, so try starting out at one end and shop for stuff as you go through the aisles and shelves. You’ll be amazed that you can actually fill up your cart with your regular grocery inventory without having to work from a list!

Exercise to Retain or Improve Your Logic: Card games such as bridge require you to use logic, as well as board games like chess and checkers.  So do word games such as anagrams, word search and crossword puzzles.  They also work by allowing you to recall the meaning of certain words you may have forgotten about because you engage in less and less thought activities after retirement.  Switch between games types to avoid routine, since you need to keep your mind active to exercise your various cerebral circuits and neuronal regions in the brain.  If you discover newer games that can interest you, so much the better since they will keep your mind working.

Creating a mentally fit lifestyle in old age will allow you to keep your brain functions running well.  Try to overcome monotony and routine so you stay away from hopelessness or mental and emotional lethargy.  Staying involved in productive activities that keep you interacting with other people is important in maintaining optimum mental health in your golden years.  You can enhance this special time in your life by refusing to accept that a deteriorating memory or sluggish thinking are both not inevitable issues of aging.

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