By Julie E 
Photo Credit ( Pixabay )
Mature individuals like us truly have a poor rap. We hear similar remarks about an obnoxious old guy or woman far too often. Younger generations believe that comes with becoming older. You become irritable as you age.
My thoughts turned to grouchy old people, and my adolescent years immediately came back. My pals and I used to play touch football on a street a few blocks away from my house every fall. It spanned just two blocks. Very little traffic was on it. That’s why it was perfect for touch football.
On the corner of the street was a two-story house. There resided an old mother and a man in his fifties. His mother was elderly by my friends’ and my own standards. She was most likely in her late 60s, though.
Teenagers playing football can get rather rowdy, as you may guess. This aging grandmother was undoubtedly annoyed by the noise. While we played, she would frequently grab a bucket of water and toss it from a second-floor veranda down onto the street.
We adolescents witnessed her getting ready for this, of course. We thus put the game on hold until she had finished emptying the container. We chuckled and carried on with our game.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve encountered more grouchy and unpleasant folks.
One of my aunts, who passed away in her late 80s, spent the final four years of her life in a nursing home. My girls and I were the only guests she had. We could only see her once or twice a year because we lived 700 miles away. Despite living much closer, her son and daughter-in-law never paid her a visit.
I saw that my aunt was getting angrier by the minute while she was staying at the house. Her loneliness and seclusion were most likely the cause of this. Her son was the target of her annoyance and bitterness. They had stopped talking at the time she passed away.
A close friend who is in his late 80s has suddenly started to act irritably toward his family. He has long suffered from mild dementia. In the past fifteen years, he has grown agitated. The way he wants his children and grandchildren to act, they don’t. He finds that upsetting.
It started with his boys. Next came his grandkids and grandsons. Lastly, he has also become agitated toward one of his daughters and even his partner. For years, I had hoped that he will be forgiven by his family and girlfriend and that his connections with them will mend before he passes away.
Older Adults Are Happier Than Younger Adults
I discovered that being cranky and angry is not typical when I began to study more about these emotions. folks 50 years of age and older have been proven to be generally happy than younger folks. Their quality of life is higher. It’s true that a small number of elderly individuals are grouchy.
If so, what triggers the grumpiness and irritability that some elderly men and women experience?
There are several explanations. These are a few:
Some people’s lives have not turned out as planned. They have higher expectations for both their personal and professional lives.
Some people don’t make enough money in retirement to live comfortably. Many older adults lost their jobs in the 2008 and 2009 economic slump. For some, finding new employment took a very long time. These new occupations sometimes paid significantly less than their previous ones. They had little to no money when they retired and a reduced Social Security payment.
Some people are disabled or suffer from long-term medical issues. Age has a negative impact on health. Some people are in pain all the time. Some people have disabilities. They are unable to carry out their past activities or their post-retirement desires.
Some people lose their hearing. Many become angry at others because they are unable to listen to others.
Some people are lonely and alone. As they age, their pals begin to pass away. They have less pals the older they get. In the unlikely event that they outlast them all, they will find themselves alone and without anyone.
For guys, who usually have one or two close buddies, this can be very heartbreaking. It would be an enormous loss if they passed away before them. They have no one if they were to outlive their wives.
Typically, women are more gregarious. They establish new friendships faster. Usually, friends do not begin to feel the effects of losing them. till they are in their late eighties.
More people than not experience loneliness and isolation in nursing homes, particularly those who have little social life and have few visitors.
Grumpy and unpleasant behavior is common among people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This could be a consequence of the illness. Another possibility is that these people become irate because they are unable to stop their mental faculties from failing as they become more apparent.
What Should You Do If You Start Feeling Grumpy or Irritable?
Numerous prefabricated responses exist. These are a handful.
Make new acquaintances.
Take up a new pastime.
Leave the house.
Help others by volunteering.
Every one of them has issues.
A lot of people find it hard to make new friends.
Some people could be unsure of their ideal pastime.
When they leave the house, where should they go?
What kinds of volunteer opportunities exist, and how can one learn about them?
Upon closer inspection, there appears to be another issue — an underlying problem. Usually, anxiety and despair are involved. First things must be addressed with that issue.
Maybe you and I are alike. Growing up, anxiety and sadness were associated with a stigma. People with these mental disorders were institutionalized.
We were unaware that anxiety and depression might not always be severe, and we were ashamed to acknowledge our own struggles with them. We therefore never discussed our concerns. Some of us even used drugs or alcohol as self-medication to cope with them. Addiction resulted from that.
This stigma is starting to fade in our society today. Mental health problems are treated in the same way as other ailments.
It’s acceptable to discuss your struggles with a friend. Seeing a counselor could possibly be beneficial. Your pastor or the people at your church might be able to recommend one to you.
Mature individuals like us truly have a poor rap. We hear similar remarks about an obnoxious old guy or woman far too often. Younger generations believe that comes with becoming older. You become irritable as you age.
My thoughts turned to grouchy old people, and my adolescent years immediately came back. My pals and I used to play touch football on a street a few blocks away from my house every fall. It spanned just two blocks. Very little traffic was on it. That’s why it was perfect for touch football.
On the corner of the street was a two-story house. There resided an old mother and a man in his fifties. His mother was elderly by my friends’ and my own standards. She was most likely in her late 60s, though.
Teenagers playing football can get rather rowdy, as you may guess. This aging grandmother was undoubtedly annoyed by the noise. While we played, she would frequently grab a bucket of water and toss it from a second-floor veranda down onto the street.
We adolescents witnessed her getting ready for this, of course. We thus put the game on hold until she had finished emptying the container. We chuckled and carried on with our game.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve encountered more grouchy and unpleasant folks.
One of my aunts, who passed away in her late 80s, spent the final four years of her life in a nursing home. My girls and I were the only guests she had. We could only see her once or twice a year because we lived 700 miles away. Despite living much closer, her son and daughter-in-law never paid her a visit.
I saw that my aunt was getting angrier by the minute while she was staying at the house. Her loneliness and seclusion were most likely the cause of this. Her son was the target of her annoyance and bitterness. They had stopped talking at the time she passed away.
A close friend who is in his late 80s has suddenly started to act irritably toward his family. He has long suffered from mild dementia. In the past fifteen years, he has grown agitated. The way he wants his children and grandchildren to act, they don’t. He finds that upsetting.
It started with his boys. Next came his grandkids and grandsons. Lastly, he has also become agitated toward one of his daughters and even his partner. For years, I had hoped that he will be forgiven by his family and girlfriend and that his connections with them will mend before he passes away.
Older Adults Are Happier Than Younger Adults
I discovered that being cranky and angry is not typical when I began to study more about these emotions. folks 50 years of age and older have been proven to be generally happy than younger folks. Their quality of life is higher. It’s true that a small number of elderly individuals are grouchy.
If so, what triggers the grumpiness and irritability that some elderly men and women experience?
There are several explanations. These are a few:
Some people’s lives have not turned out as planned. They have higher expectations for both their personal and professional lives.
Some people don’t make enough money in retirement to live comfortably. Many older adults lost their jobs in the 2008 and 2009 economic slump. For some, finding new employment took a very long time. These new occupations sometimes paid significantly less than their previous ones. They had little to no money when they retired and a reduced Social Security payment.
Some people are disabled or suffer from long-term medical issues. Age has a negative impact on health. Some people are in pain all the time. Some people have disabilities. They are unable to carry out their past activities or their post-retirement desires.
Some people lose their hearing. Many become angry at others because they are unable to listen to others.
Some people are lonely and alone. As they age, their pals begin to pass away. They have less pals the older they get. In the unlikely event that they outlast them all, they will find themselves alone and without anyone.
For guys, who usually have one or two close buddies, this can be very heartbreaking. It would be an enormous loss if they passed away before them. They have no one if they were to outlive their wives.
Typically, women are more gregarious. They establish new friendships faster. Usually, friends do not begin to feel the effects of losing them. till they are in their late eighties.
More people than not experience loneliness and isolation in nursing homes, particularly those who have little social life and have few visitors.
Grumpy and unpleasant behavior is common among people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This could be a consequence of the illness. Another possibility is that these people become irate because they are unable to stop their mental faculties from failing as they become more apparent.
What Should You Do If You Start Feeling Grumpy or Irritable?
Numerous prefabricated responses exist. These are a handful.
Make new acquaintances.
Take up a new pastime.
Leave the house.
Help others by volunteering.
Every one of them has issues.
A lot of people find it hard to make new friends.
Some people could be unsure of their ideal pastime.
When they leave the house, where should they go?
What kinds of volunteer opportunities exist, and how can one learn about them?
Upon closer inspection, there appears to be another issue — an underlying problem. Usually, anxiety and despair are involved. First things must be addressed with that issue.
Maybe you and I are alike. Growing up, anxiety and sadness were associated with a stigma. People with these mental disorders were institutionalized.
We were unaware that anxiety and depression might not always be severe, and we were ashamed to acknowledge our own struggles with them. We therefore never discussed our concerns. Some of us even used drugs or alcohol as self-medication to cope with them. Addiction resulted from that.
This stigma is starting to fade in our society today. Mental health problems are treated in the same way as other ailments.
It’s acceptable to discuss your struggles with a friend. Seeing a counselor could possibly be beneficial. Your pastor or the people at your church might be able to recommend one to you.