The National Health Interview survey found that disabilities for people between the ages of 50 and 64 are on the rise, a statistic that contrasts with a decline in disabilities for people aged 65 and over. The age group in trouble is the one that was born between 1945 and 1960 which corresponds to the Pluto in Leo generation. (You can read more about that generation, also called “baby boomers,” here.
While the total number of adults reporting physical problems in this age group did not change significantly over the study period, there was a significant uptick in people reporting difficulties with specific mobility related functions, including walking a quarter-mile and climbing 10 steps.
There was also an increase in the number of people using special equipment to get around, such as a cane or wheelchair. In addition, more people reported needing help with daily personal care activities, such as getting out of bed and moving around the home.
Specifically, the problems reported by boomers include back or neck problems, diabetes and depression, anxiety or emotional problems. The Pluto in Leo generation is driven by ego concerns – Leo is the sign of the Self and the Ego, and Pluto brings a compulsive quality to the sign that has driven this generation to seek glorification in many ways. This was the first generation to embrace exercise for its own sake and in order to stave off the signs of aging, and overexercise is a major cause of mobility distress.
This intense focus on the Self and the ego that Pluto in Leo demands can easily result in emotional issues – it will be interesting to see if this tendency towards depression and anxiety continues into the Pluto in Virgo generation which is more focused on service and improving the world they live in.
Hi Lynn,
I found your comments open about the physical ailments of the Pluto on Leo generation, being one myself. Pluto represents transformation, and Leo the ego. Could you comment on the possibility that these ailments (physical, emotional and spiritual) are manifest as the result of using the ego to *resist* transformation of itself?
I myself have a bad back brought on by an injury playing squash. What was significant, however, was that I felt a twinge before the injury that I overrode and continued playing to my greater chagrin. I have been listening and paying attention to my aches and pains ever since.
Quetzl, I too am a Pluto in Leo person, and I had a similar experience. I taught aerobics for years, despite knee pain and a growing collection of foot problems. I’m not sure that your point about using the ego to resist transformation is exactly how I would put it, and each Pluto in Leo person expresses this compulsive (Pluto) need to aggrandize the ego (Leo) in a different way. But Leo is a fixed sign and there is always resistance there.