Lauren Hunter - The Financial Realities of Death and Aging

This week on Standard Deviations with Dr. Daniel Crosby, Dr. Crosby speaks with Lauren Hunter. Oxford, Mississippi native Lauren Hunter (née Dayan) is a provisionally licensed existential psychotherapist and a doctoral student in Tulane University’s aging studies program. Her professional interests include aging, death, and anxiety surrounding these topics. Lauren is specifically focussed on helping clients gain a greater sense of self-understanding through creativity and the normalization of the aging process.

Tune in to hear:

- What are some different attitudes about aging and death held across the world? How particular is the western attitude about these things relative to the rest of the world?

- How do these attitudinal perspectives shift the concrete outcomes (e.g. levels of happiness and fulfillment) for people who are themselves aging?

- Where should one begin if they would like to start incorporating more eastern ideas around death and not push back so much against the natural aging process?

- In 12-15 years, America will have its most aged population yet. What are the societal implications for this national “greying” and are we prepared for the implications of this as a country?

- What are the pros and cons of working past the traditional retirement age of 65?

- How can we mentally prepare ourselves for retirement outside of a fixed savings benchmark?

- Are there practical steps we can take to drive home the salience of the reality of our aging?

- What is a potential colloquial definition of Existentialism and how can it be practically applied to improve one’s quality of life? 

- What are some good reading resources for applying existentialism practically? 

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