Ageing

Photo of two women sitting on a park bench in autumn, surrounded by fallen leaves and trees.
AGEING

How to feel less lonely as you get older

Work and family life are no longer so busy and life can suddenly seem empty. Here are some good ways to stay connected

by Carrie Ditzel

Photo of three elderly cyclists in racing gear seated indoors at a velodrome in Manchester.
AGEING

Rather than fearing getting old, here’s how to embrace it

Whether you are 20 or 90, each moment of life presents an opportunity to focus on what really matters to you

by Berit Lewis

A photo of a child in a red dress running on a wooden bridge with adults walking in the background under a clear sky.
AGEING

Simone de Beauvoir recommends we fight for ourselves as we age

Old age, for Simone de Beauvoir, is not shameful or frightening but should be celebrated as an opportunity to be authentic

by Skye C Cleary

Photo of two women painting at a table, focusing on one using a pink brush.

Dementia is not a death. For some, it marks a new beginning

Advocates are reframing the syndrome as a different way of being – one in which potential for growth and connection endures

by Isabel Sutton

Photo of two people outdoors in winter clothing with sun rays surrounding them. One person wears glasses. Bright sky in background.
AGEING

How I met my mother: dementia brought back her true self

In dementia, my mother lived with the friendly ghosts of her past – and I got to know her as someone other than just my mum

by Ina Kjøgx Pedersen

Photo of an elderly person’s hands clasped together, wearing an orange jumper, with focus on the wrinkles and texture.
AGEING

Efforts to expand the lifespan ignore what it’s like to get old

As modern medicine extends the human lifespan, quality of life is not keeping up, raising thorny ethical dilemmas

by Robert S Gable

Photo of two people on a bench overlooking a sunny seaside with trees casting shadows on grass and a stone balustrade.
AGEING

Older people are battling despair, but Erikson offers us hope

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a mental toll on older people. The psychoanalyst Erik Erikson offers a way out of our despair

by Jane Adams

Photo of an older woman in a straw hat holding a doll in a park with another person embracing her from behind.
AGEING

The radical impact of seeing Alzheimer’s as a second childhood

Even if the retrogenesis model isn’t strictly true, seeing Alzheimer’s as a second childhood impacts radically on patient care

by Han Yu

A painting of a woman in 18th-century attire with a large hairstyle holding a letter, seated with a dark background.

Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution

French doctors of the 1800s had a vested interest in pathologising women’s ageing, as do many commercial entities today

by Alison M Downham Moore

Photo of a cake with ten extinguished candles and smoke rising, set against a dark background on a decorated table.

Knowing your true age requires more than a swab and calendar

How the concept of ‘age mosaicism’ from cellular biology is challenging our notions of chronological and biological age

by Marco J Nathan

Photo of an elderly man sitting on a chair surrounded by various ornate coffins in a room with a chequered floor.

As a society, we’re not death phobic, we’re death complacent

Our culture is routinely diagnosed with an excessive fear of mortality. A calm look at the evidence tells a different story

by Ingemar Patrick Linden

An elderly man, smiling with closed eyes, playing a violin outdoors in a lush, green forest setting.

After years of hard work, three elders practise the arts of everyday life

Directed by Richard Kane and Dillon Bustin

Illustration of a woman with a short black hair wearing red panties clutching her chest in a black and white bathroom with a checkered floor, green plant, bath, sink, toilet, and red towel.
AGEING

A single grey hair springs to life in a playful exploration of ageing anxiety

Directed by Eilidh Nicoll

A man lying with a serene expression surrounded by white lilies against a dark background.

At 84, Jun lives to shock. His next act? A living funeral no one asked for

A film by Mari Young and Anika Kan Grevstad