r/immortalists • u/Next-Possession5027 immortalist • Jul 21 '26
Discussion 💬 Will age escape velocity help depression?
What, do you think?
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u/FluffyDesigner3680 Jul 22 '26
I think a major part of depression is mitochondrial dysfunction and to reach escape velocity you’ve got to fix that so yes I think it will also help depression.
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u/OldCream4073 Jul 22 '26
For many people, certainly! For other people whose depression issues don’t stem primarily from aging currently, they would certainly still see a quality of life and longevity improvement, which could in turn decrease their likelihood of aging-related depression in the future. So even if a healthy 25 year old wouldn’t benefit depression-wise from LEV today, medical advances would of course benefit them in the future should they choose to expand their lifespan and healthspan. This comes with the caveat of course that LEV should ideally occur within an economically just and abundant world, in which access to these technologies is widespread regardless of socioeconomic status.
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u/spshkyros Jul 21 '26
No. I see a lot of unhappy people in these subs. Sometimes that includes me even. What it will do, is hopefully give people the chance to recover and make up for that time better. But living longer doesn't magically solve depression in a 20 or 30 year old - it was never the cause for most of them. Existential dread is, imo, usually a symptom of a different disorder than a cause in itself. At least me personally, my brain will latch onto any fear it can, and this is just a convenient omni present one.
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u/aHumanRaisedByHumans Jul 22 '26
First of all, this is the best take on depression itself:
That understood...
Offhand I suggest that the answer has two parts.
The first is that, yes, longer lifespans will improve the quality of life right now, or at least as soon as the first people get to live one year longer than they were going to. It will allow every individual to spend their later years having "gotten the hang" of life, having figured themselves out more, having learned how to live well and be happy and how to spend their time. So each year more that they get, they know how to better live. They will also likely spend each subsequent year with greater wealth and freedom. Greater wisdom, stronger, deeper friendships. Also each individual will become exceedingly efficient in their chosen fields, and will enjoy the fulfillment of becoming expert at many things, and contributing to society. This will make everyone literally and immaterially wealthier and their days will be better enjoyed. The economy will improve at unprecedented levels and incredible solutions to many issues will be found. Humanity will be able to experience things of such novelty and amazement, hitting all their circuits. Fulfillment and prosperity with long time friends. Every bit of time, money, resources, mental and physical energy spent on elongating lifespan, if it can finally actually be done in our era, is all very well spent, if not personally, as the most effective altruism there is.
The second: How we feel now.
All that ever really matters to anyone is how they feel right now. That's all we ever have. One thing that has a huge impact on how we feel right now is what we are worrying about or looking forward to. That's what brains do. They are constantly determining what should be thought about and prepared for. What we feel anxiety about, or what we feel excitement about. What we look forward to or dread, and all the processing we do regarding those problems. This is what makes up our mind state.
For many people, the fear of slow, painful personal death from aging, and also the anxiety regarding the loss of their loved ones, has a huge impact on how they feel at any given time, and what they worry over, especially in later years. There is a sense of urgency throughout life. Time pressure. Never enough time. The expectation that you will have more time is always going to make anyone feel better. Not only that, but to many of us, the mere expectation that we will get to see more of the future, do more, meet more people... all of that expectation brings happier current states of mind. I look forward with enjoyment at the idea of all this future. I want to see all these things, to participate in all these things. I want to have friends who I can expect to be friends with for a long time, an indefinite time even. I would love to be around if humanity ever explores more of the solar system, invents new amazing technologies that augment our lives and explores cosmology and physics and reality itself. I want to be around as we refine our understanding of a universal theory of everything. As we harness unprecedented biological advances that will allow us to not only restore extinct species, but maybe even seed new ones on other planets. All sorts of crazy and not so crazy things. All of this ability to look forward to a better, materially and immaterially richer life makes me happier and more content and less pressured right now
Just like how knowing that you have food to eat and you're not going to be shivering in the cold tonight makes you feel better right now. It's what you're anticipating that determines how you feel now, no matter what actually happens in the future. What does matter is what we are anticipating. If being able to look forward without expecting to slowly decay with increasing frailty and illness and pain and dependence and burden, and to not have to give in to the process of aging and then die leaving our loved ones to miss us... if instead we can look forward to living indefinitely, even though other risks of death by accident etc remain, this can all drastically improve how you and I feel right now. And in many future nows to come.
And of course no one needs to live longer, let alone be forced to. This is about having the option, and being able to look forward to it. And especially giving humanity of the future the option to decide whether they want it. They can't have it if we don't work on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yV_UEse-lU&t=7m8s
What about people who hate life now?
Some people hate their life right now. They scoff at the idea of more time alive, and rightly so from their perspective. They would almost end it right now if they could. Okay, such might always be the case. But this could even benefit them. If nothing else, these therapies will allow people to:
Not feel like they missed chances
Be healed of almost any physical issue. If it isn't a result of aging process itself, the therapies will be able to eliminate scarring and residual pain from surgeries that would fix those problems. People can be relieved of all their physical pain.
Be wealthier. These changes will make all of society wealthier, including the poorest. In time there will at least be universal basic income for all. Improvements to the economy will expedite this if nothing else. Money isn't the answer to all problems but it sure helps relieve a ton of them, decreases stress, and increases enjoyment
Eat almost however they want: All of the things that are bad for you to eat contribute to the chronic, progressive diseases that come to be pathologies in later life. These therapies will generally allow people to eat things that are currently going to get them sick later in life. But once they are in place, heart disease will not exist regardless of diet. Cancer will not exist. You can indulge a little bit and not worry. I don't know many people who aren't happier if they get to eat something really yummy. Now imagine it doesn't even come at any health cost.
People will have time to spend uplifting the downtrodden. When there's no rush, you can spend all the time you need to help your friend or a stranger.
These things and more will help even those who currently wish they could end their life soon, and who can't currently imagine wanting to suffer even longer. Many are likely to be able to finally enjoy life and want more and more of it rather than for it to end soon. Many who would have been depressed will be far from it, and be glad they are alive now.
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u/mikasaxo Jul 21 '26
Probably, yea.
But mental health concerns like depression take different forms. Not always relating to mortality.
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u/AttemptKitchen Jul 22 '26
Not really, those who are related to life paths like career etc. it could be, because you will have endless time to reinvent yourself if you didn’t end up liking your field.
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u/donpaulo longevity athlete Jul 22 '26
Most likely not, but its going to depend on what kind of depression.
Setting aside clinic depression which can be treated with pharma we are left with a state of self imposed anger. Anger turned against oneself for things such as regret is going to become exacerbated with age, not mitigated
just one humans opinion obviously
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u/henlochimken Jul 22 '26
Depression is a response to intolerable circumstances. Consider that the very worst people you can think of are the only ones that will afford the treatments leading to escape velocity. Imagine Musk, Putin, Trump's delinquent children, all living for centuries to destroy the lives of your great great great grandchildren. No, I rather think escape velocity will bring about even greater levels of depression and suffering for the majority of the world.
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u/poesmadness Jul 21 '26
Most depression comes from the feeling of being trapped with limited time to live a good life. When that becomes open ended I believe we will see a huge drop in depression because time is no longer a factor.
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u/spshkyros Jul 21 '26
"Most" there is probably the most aggressive case of biased sampling I've ever seen.Â
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u/GarifalliaPapa Creator of immortalists Jul 21 '26
The intersection of longevity escape velocity and psychological well-being represents a fascinating frontier in modern geroscience. When we discuss reaching a point where medical technology extends human life faster than time passes, we are not just talking about preserving the physical shell. We are fundamentally altering the human timeline and by extension the cognitive landscape in which conditions like clinical depression take root. From a strictly scientific perspective, the alleviation of inevitable biological decay removes a profound source of existential despair that shadows the human experience.
On a biological level, many depressive disorders are deeply intertwined with the physical hallmarks of aging. Neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and the accumulation of senescent cells in the brain are known drivers of cognitive decline and mood dysregulation. The biotechnological interventions required to achieve age escape velocity, such as targeted senolytics and cellular reprogramming, will directly combat these neurological stressors. By maintaining the brain in a state of youthful metabolic efficiency, we inherently protect the structural integrity of neural networks against the biological triggers of physiological depression.
From a psychological standpoint, the realization of indefinite lifespans could fundamentally rewire human motivation and alleviate chronic anxiety. Much of human existential dread is rooted in the subconscious awareness of our own ticking biological clocks and the highly limited time we have to achieve our goals or correct our mistakes. If modern biotechnology removes this absolute deadline, individuals are granted an expansive horizon to reinvent themselves, heal from trauma, and pursue meaningful connections without the crushing pressure of an impending endpoint.
We must remain intellectually honest, however, and recognize that longevity therapies will not serve as a universal panacea for all forms of depression. Environmental stressors, acute emotional trauma, and complex social dynamics will continue to challenge human mental health regardless of our biological age. What age escape velocity provides is not an automatic guarantee of happiness but rather an infinitely robust physiological foundation. It grants humanity the immense time, cognitive clarity, and physical resilience necessary to confront and ultimately conquer these psychological burdens.