Whenever I see an old person who is very hunched over, to the point where they are only looking at the floor and can't look forward at all,  I always wonder if they've had a very hard life.

The saying "you look like you have the world on your shoulders" is so true.  When we're troubled, worried, depressed or lacking in motivation we tend to hunch forward.  Sedentary lifestyles and the fact that many people spend 8+ hours a day chained to their PC's, leads me to believe that kyphosis caused by bad posture, will soon be endemic and start to affect people at a younger and younger age.

I found this interesting article on MassageMag.com which says that posture also has an affect on thoughts  - it says "body posture can affect not only what others think about us, but also how we think about ourselves".

Learn more here.

This ties nicely into the holistic concept that the body affects the mind and vice-versa.   If the problem originates from bad posture there are many ways to reverse the problem:  yoga, Alexander Technique, Pilates, Rolfing  and massage to name but a few.