Marker check · 2 questions
Mental wellbeing
Persistent depression associates with substantially higher mortality — through biology (inflammation, sleep, cardiovascular effects) and behavior (activity, care-seeking). On the positive side, a strong sense of life purpose is one of the best-replicated psychological predictors of longevity: purposeful people show ~17–20% lower mortality across prospective cohorts. Getting help when you need it moves this marker.
The research
- Walker et al., JAMA Psychiatry 2015 — mental disorders and mortality meta
- Hill & Turiano, Psychol Sci 2014 — purpose in life, HR ≈ 0.83
- Alimujiang et al., JAMA Netw Open 2019 — life purpose and mortality >50