{"id":8591,"date":"2025-11-03T17:33:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=8591"},"modified":"2025-11-03T17:33:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:33:38","slug":"how-having-a-strong-sense-of-purpose-especially-in-retirement-can-reduce-dementia-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=8591","title":{"rendered":"How having a strong sense of purpose, especially in retirement, can reduce dementia risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2025\/11\/03\/36363daf-f4e6-4848-acf7-0625d3799af7_baf6280e.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">This is the 75th instalment in a series on<\/em> <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">dementia<\/em><\/span><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.<\/em><\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Purpose is defined as a sense of resolve or determination.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">My mother\u2019s frequent and treatment-resistant episodes of depression eroded hers. Apathetic, she lost all her verve for life. \u201cI am inert,\u201d she told me once when I texted to ask how she was.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">It was the perfect description; depression robbed her of motivation, drive and a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">I would often wonder afterwards if that contributed to her dementia later.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Hong Kong-based clinical psychologist Dr Ritu Verma says research shows that people with a strong sense of purpose tend to have better executive functioning \u2013 sharper mental skills for planning and focus \u2013 and improved performance on processing speed and memory tests.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cHaving purpose helps our brains age better,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3331329\/how-having-strong-sense-purpose-especially-retirement-can-reduce-dementia-risk?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is the 75th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4112,7953,7955,7954,1567,3738,1718],"class_list":["post-8591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-dementia","tag-purpose","tag-reduce","tag-retirement","tag-risk","tag-sense","tag-strong","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}