Daily stress and worry plummet after age 50

[Liberal_in_LA]

Daily stress and worry plummet after age 50

By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

After 50, daily stress and worry take a dive and daily happiness increases, according to an analysis of more than 340,000 adults questioned about the emotions they experienced "yesterday."

The research, published online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that young adults experience more negative emotions more frequently than those who are older. Negative emotions, such as stress and anger, are similar in that they consistently decline with age, but worry holds steady until around 50, when it sharply drops, the study shows.

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"After 50 is when things start dropping off dramatically in terms of worry and stress. That's the turning point in some ways, but it's not a magic number in terms of everything that's better," says study co-author Arthur Stone, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y. He is also a senior scientist with Gallup.

Stress is "constantly dropping, but the curve gets much steeper after age 50," he says.

The study also found that women reported greater stress, worry and sadness than men at all ages.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-18-stress18online_ST_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

[G_j]

1. I wish...

:eyes:

[laylah]

25. I'm almost 59...

I agree with you...I wish.

[Cleita]

2. Or, as I discovered in my case,

the older I got, the less I gave a shit. Not that I don't care about the big picture. I do. But the day to day aggravations, I just don't care.

[joeybee12]

4. It's because...sorry to sound cliche...you realize life is indeed too short to

worry about all that crap.

[sufrommich]

5. I agree. It's like a magic moment when you realize

" I really don't give a shit what everybody else thinks".

[MgtPA]

8. For me, it was "I really don't give a shit what anybody else thinks".

[malaise]

17. Ding ding we have a winner

Hubby's sister and I both shared that identical view as we approached our 50th birthdays back then. :D

fix smilie

[SPedigrees]

18. I've never given a shit what anyone else thought.

Peer pressure was alien terminology to me, even in my teens. Now I'm old (60) and dealing with life is harder, so I'm more stressed.

[Brickbat]

19. I made a conscious decision in ninth grade to not give a shit about what other people thought about

me. It made a huge difference in my life all the way through, and I look back on it and think it's much of the reason that I, now 38, feel very little stress in my life.

[Warpy]

20. That's because you do get the big picture

and realize everyday aggravations are utterly unimportant to the continued functioning of the universe.

"Don't sweat the small stuff" becomes increasingly possible as we get older and gain a lot more perspective.

That zit that destroyed our social life forever at 15 is a cause for mild amusement at 40, for example.

[tabasco]

28. LOL. You took the words outta my mouth.

I find it hard to give a damn anymore.

Now that I'm over the hill, I'm determined to have some peace and happiness.

[graywarrior]

3. BS

[Xipe Totec]

6. That's the second thing to go

I can't remember what the first one was.

[sufrommich]

7. lol. That too.

[WinkyDink]

9. I'm sixty. I'll outlive the depletion of fish in the oceans. See? Less worry!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Gradually you realize that a lot of stuff that used to matter, no longer does.

And that as to most little day-to-day things, you no longer give a crap. And that's a nice feeling.

[Rex]

11. That could be true in some places, but I doubt all.

I notice in the small town I live in, elderly people are treated with respect and courtsey by most. The two elderly ladies that bag groceries at my local grocery store love the attention the teens give them and the teens seem to love falling all over themselves trying to help out. It is the kind of respect that makes an adult grin when they see it.

[hobbit709]

12. There's only thing thing I have to say about that.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Macoy]

14. I No Longer Stress

A lot of it could come from knowing pretty much how your life is going to turn out. Yes, I know, my life could crash and burn at any moment, but at 50, I know it is not likely.

Look at it this way….at 20 years old I worried; would I be world famous or a dud in my career.
At 50, I know I have had a moderately successful career…and one I am happy with.

At 20, I worried about my family, would I be a good father to my children. At 50 all three of my children are growing in to balanced, happy and successful adults. And I am happy with the way they turned out.

At 20, I worried where the money for my next beer was coming from. At 50, I am not wealthy, but I doing ok. And I am happy that I am in a position where I can help out others financially. …and still buy my next beer 


Bottom line: I no longer stress about a lot of the things I used to.


Macoy

[LibertyLover]

13. My stress and worry increased exponentially afer 50

because I was lucky enough to be allowed to adopt a little girl from China. That child will be the death of me yet.

[bobbolink]

15. Tell that to people stuck in crap jobs, to people with NO job, to homeless people... all over 50.

Another one of those middleclass memes.

[T Wolf]

16. Oh yeah? This over-50 is awash in stress and worry. Now, if you are talking about a

greater tendency to react to all the pressures by simply saying "fuck it" and recognizing that the final solution (death) ain't that far away and ain't all that bad, there might be some truth to this finding.

Life continues its assault, and increases it in our dotage. We are just experienced and "wise" enough to know that we really cannot do anything about it.

My only hope is that I do not suffer from the paranoid version of old-timer's disease, but rather the more benign, out-of-it variety. I'm not asking for much.

[DailyGrind51]

21. Only if you are rich and healthy!

[marions ghost]

22. they didnt survey anybody I know...

:thumbsdown: people losing jobs, taking care of parents, struggling financially...

Younger days were so much more hopeful for all the things I care about.

[Danmel]

23. Did these people have their kids when they were 12 or something?

I still have 7 years of college to pay for and I'm 50. My stress is through the roof.

[Hannah Bell]

24. must be why elders have the highest suicide rate. maybe they just give up,

since options become increasingly limited with age.

acceptance of powerlessness can be mistaken for a happy condition of "low stress".

doesn't mean it's a happy condition.

[rustydog]

26. They got that one wrong Jack

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. 50 is about when most people's kids become largely independent.

My stress has been almost exclusively kid-related.