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Getting more stressed as I get older. Just me?

(33 Posts)
HettyMaud Wed 22-Jan-20 14:12:16

I often feel stressed but there's no need really. Stress about my 95-year-old mother, stress about my GS, worry about silly things like planning the evening meal. And as for planning a holiday... well, it's SUCH hard work. It's ridiculous. I used to be the most chilled-out person around. I wonder if it's because I've got too much time on my hands. I seem to worry about silly little things which wouldn't have fazed me one bit in my youth. Looking back I don't know how I ever did the things I did.

Harris27 Sat 01-Feb-20 08:56:45

I’ve always been a worrier and it has not got any less with age. The worries may be different but the stress of it still the same! My dad used to tell me to put my head in the pillow and go to sleep as there was nothing anyone could do at night. Oh how I wish I could do that I’d be a new woman!

BlueBelle Sat 01-Feb-20 09:23:05

I get much more anxious about things now I was never very decisive but now I am very much worse I dither around changing my mind I’ll do this, then no that’s not a good idea, then back to the first idea again Then I get uptight because I’ve changed it I hate feeling like this I just want to be able to make a decision and stick to it I’m also much much more anxious about travelling and especially long haul which I have to do to visit my son and I’m really not feeling that I’ve got it in me to do that trip again although I want to
Last time I went on holiday after the first week I was wanting to get home where I feel safe although I didn’t feel unsafe and was enjoying myself (unexplainable) I never ever thought I’d be like this as I used to love adventures and travelling and now it’s all become something I have to make myself get through
I doubt myself and my abilities I’m always waiting to make a mistake it’s a horrible situation to be in and I am consciously trying to change myself by making myself do things out of my comfort zone but it’s not easy
I suppose it’s a confidence thing I never did have a lot and it seems to have left me now

Greyduster Sat 01-Feb-20 09:25:25

When I retired, I had the same can do attitude and spirit of adventure as I had always prided myself on having. As DH and I have trundled into our seventies, although both physically fit, everything - even mundane things - seems to present an enormous mental challenge to me, so that I “whittle” (good Yorkshire word) inwardly about things constantly. I am mistress of the art of “what if!” I bought my SiL a mug bearing the words “Stop tha whittlin’; it’ll be allreet!” I should have bought myself one to carry around with me!

Willynilly Sat 01-Feb-20 10:04:52

I think we fill the void left by work and children and tend to worry more...well I do. Travel stresses and tires me and I worry not only about my mother but also my children and grandchildren!
Yep, I’m a ‘whittler’ at heart.

GrandmaMoira Sat 01-Feb-20 10:39:29

I definitely stress about things that didn't worry me when younger. I have panic attacks which I never had when younger. I find travelling stressful but I wouldn't have worried when younger.

oldgimmer1 Sat 01-Feb-20 10:48:16

I find work more stressful.

I think technology has made life very full-on.

I'm happy with technology but there's a Big Brother element to it which I find unsettling.

Because it makes everything quicker there's pressure to ramp up the productivity. And it's harder to have "warm" encounters. It's soulless. I feel more like a bean - counter than I ever did when I WAS a bean counter. grin

storynanny Sat 01-Feb-20 11:11:27

I get more anxious than I used to, mainly stuff to do with adult children and decisions I’ve no input over! Had a new washing machine recently which caused a leak during installation and the anxiety it caused me was ridiculous. I took Citalopram for a couple of years during “menopause/ stressful job/insomnia/travelling the country twice a week for elderly parents/ children moving abroad years” and have recently thought maybe I need to take it again.
It was a help with with everything except the insomnia which I still have.
I’m trying really hard to stay calm about trivial stuff, because of course the leak was fixed with very little problem.