HONG KONG — Being unhappy or experiencing loneliness accelerates the aging process more than smoking, according to new research.

The team reports that they detected aging acceleration among people with a history of stroke, liver and lung diseases, smoking, and in people with a vulnerable mental state.

Interestingly, feeling hopeless, unhappy, and lonely displayed a connection to increasing a patient’s biological age more than the harmful impact of smoking.

“We demonstrate psychological factors, such as feeling unhappy or being lonely, add up to one year and eight months to one’s biological age,” says study author Dr.

Fedor Galkin from start-up Deep Longevity Limited, according to a statement from SWNS.

We conclude the psychological component should not be ignored in aging studies due to its significant impact on biological age.”.

The international team’s tool bridges the gap between the concepts of biological and psychological aging.

It shows mental health has a stronger effect on the pace of aging compared to a number of health conditions and lifestyle habits.

Fortunately, researchers say the increased pace of aging is detectable by modern science before it results in disastrous consequences.

However, any treatments need to focus on mental health as much as physical health, the researchers note.

The team measured the effects of being lonely, having restless sleep, or feeling unhappy on the pace of aging and found it to be significant.

Other factors linked to aging acceleration include being single and living in a rural area, due to the low availability of medical services.

Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine, adds the “clock” provides a course of action to “slow down or even reverse psychological aging on a national scale.” Earlier this year, Deep Longevity released an AI-guided mental health web service called FuturSelf.AI.

It offers a free assessment that provides a comprehensive report on a user’s psychological age as well as current and future mental well-being.

“FuturSelf.AI, in combination with the study of older Chinese adults, positions Deep Longevity at the forefront of biogerontological research,” says Deepankar Nayak, CEO of Deep Longevity.