One path to a happier life: Thinking more about death

Studies find that planning for the end of life can have many psychological benefits. In a narrow sense, it maximizes your sense of autonomy late in life. “Research within the hospice field and within palliative care has documented that if people are more prepared for the end of their life, then it can cause less psychological distress for them and less psychological stress for the people that survive them,” said Brian Carpenter, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies aging.

But it also improves well-being on a broad level. When you talk about your mortality, it inevitably leads you to think about other existential questions: What has my life been about? What is my legacy? “It’s really taking a careful look at your life, trying to make sense of the decisions that you’ve made,” Carpenter told me, “so that you can die with a sense of coherence about what your life has been all about. And that’s incredibly psychologically satisfying for people. … That helps us understand ourselves and come to some sort of peace with our lives.”   Click Here to Read the Article