Do emotions become less 'emotional' as you get older?

Tom_Cruise

As people get older and their body slowly starts to deteriorate, does the brain also go through a similar process? Like is being happy when your older actually less happy than being happy when your a child?

af_thefragile

As you get older you realise thing never really turn out the way you imagined them in your head and slowly everything becomes just meh...

El Guapo!

Tom.......you're fcukin bat shít crazy.
I like you.

Ruudi_Mentari

I still touch myself...

at night. We become less overly sensitive, maybe? However if you weren't that particularly sensitive in the first place then you may lose all sensation

Senna

You'll probably never be as happy/excited as a kid on Christmas morning (or any major event), but that level of emotion fades fairly quickly, so I think normal adult emotions can be just as strong at 18yr's as 81yr's.

Ruudi_Mentari

Sometimes I can have a long spell, where I feel practically nothing. which can lead to the a surge of pent up emotion like never felt before....

cartell_best

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

As people get older and their body slowly starts to deteriorate, does the brain also go through a similar process? Like is being happy when your older actually less happy than being happy when your a child?

No, emotions don't! If anything, and for those that think they do...they only become more diluted. Emotions weaken/soften in time...., And do you know something? thank God they do! That's why being who we are, is what makes us who we are!

KKkitty

As you get older I guess you've seen a fair bit so you become desensitised to a lot of things. When I was younger I would have been more emotional but now not so much.

Son Of A Vidic

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

Like is being happy when your older actually less happy than being happy when your a child?

Tbh, I'm more worried about why a big black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit

arybvtcw0eolkf

As I grow older I realize that I'll never be any younger than I am right now and l live and get the same enjoyment from things as I did 40 yrs ago.

I'd hate to die old and realize I never lived, loved, laughed, cried and gotten angry at all the things in live from birth to death.

I think as I grow older and experience more life that my emotions actually grow and get stronger.

I'm 47.

KKkitty

Novalee Faithful Yachtsman wrote: »

As I grow older I realize that I'll never be any younger than I am right now and l live and get the same enjoyment from things as I did 40 yrs ago.

I'd hate to die old and realize I never lived, loved, laughed, cried and gotten angry at all the things in live from birth to death.

I think as I grow older and experience more life that my emotions actually grow and get stronger.

I'm 47.

That last piece of your post has hit a nerve with me and the reason being is what I've gone through has made me nearly emotionless. I'm almost afraid to cry or get really mad about anything. I haven't had a good laugh in ages either.

JD DABA

ahem.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnvvLM-dHSs

Bipolar Joe

I hope to be just as full of emotions when I'm an old man, just different ones to now.

okioffice84

I think you become more adept at throwing a fire-blanket over your feelings as you age.

kerry4sam

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

As people get older and their body slowly starts to deteriorate, does the brain also go through a similar process? Like is being happy when your older actually less happy than being happy when your a child?

I would have thought that as you grow older; unless you are unfortunately suffering from dementia or some form of; then your emotions would be as strong, if not stronger than when you are younger and you would still be in a position to understand the situations you find yourself in and be in position to emotionally respond accordingly.

As you age you have grown with experiences and situations that draw on emotion in some form. Just because your body is slowly deteriorating does not always mean your mind is also and something as small as seeing someone smile would rise strong emotions within you.

I hope to still find reasons to smile when I'm older and my body is deteriorating; hopefully I'll still have as strong a mind to pull me through any hardship.

Great thread btw!

beks101

I find myself getting more emotional the older I get.

I've learned how to recognise emotions and avoid making decisions based solely on them though, as that's usually a recipe for disaster.

I think the day you stop feeling angry or sad or hurt or overwhelmed or happy or excited or disappointed...is the day you begin to die.

tim3000

I find myself "leveling off" emotionality wise I find that I don't have feelings of anticipation anymore thats the one I miss the most that said it is a consequence of aging. If it matters I am 24

Someone had to

I think so. The more ya do, the less stuff matters. 1st love vs. 10th love. 1st house vs. 3rd house. 1st foreign country vs. 20th foreign country. 1st failure vs. 10th failure.

keelanj69

No way Op. I red stuf on fb tht makes me cry4eva. Totes emosh.

-76 year old gentleman.

Wacker The Attacker

I wouldnt know.

I dont have any emotions

Wacker The Attacker

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

I hope to be just as full of emotions when I'm an old man, just different ones to now.

Yes. I know the feeling.

Disdain, bitterness, regret, apathy etc etc etc

Quality

I am just as emotional now over things than I was when I was a kid.

It's just different things are more important to me now than when I was younger. More responsibilities

Ruudi_Mentari

I actually have to repress my emotions, all the while. to this day

I laugh so hard I cry...

jokettle

Aging comes with a happiness bias, where people tend to think of things in a more positive light and remember happy memories better than others. Ill dig up some links later on this.

This is only with healthy aging, btw; I don't know the details of emotions with dementia.

conorhal

No, perhaps you have fewer new experiences, but you don't feel any less deeply in my opinion, you simply have enough experience of situations to measure and control your emotional response.

When I speak to my boss for example, I use phrases like 'I'll take that under advisement', or 'I see your point of view', rather than storming out of his office, slamming the door shouting 'I HaaAaATE U and I wish you'd never employed me!'
Just because age and experience has made me capable of one response over the other does not necessarily mean that I don't wan't to staple his tie to his smug face any less however.

the_syco

KKkitty wrote: »

That last piece of your post has hit a nerve with me and the reason being is what I've gone through has made me nearly emotionless. I'm almost afraid to cry or get really mad about anything. I haven't had a good laugh in ages either.

Well, that fcuking sucks. Maybe get a couple of the latest kids film, and see if any of them will make you giggle? Personally, Despicable Me and a few of the Pixar ones have me in stitches

RossFixxxed

the_syco wrote: »

Well, that fcuking sucks. Maybe get a couple of the latest kids film, and see if any of them will make you giggle? Personally, Despicable Me and a few of the Pixar ones have me in stitches

Or you could watch UP! and weep like a child for 90 minutes... eh not that I did but...


I've said too much!


If How to Train your Dragon doesn't pull some heart strings and make you smile you have no soul.

folan

either that or im becoming a psychopath.

Qualitymark

Depends on the person. Some people achieve a bit of distance and balance - not because of their body gradually corroding away, in the way you so charmingly envisage, but because they've had enough experience to know that a teenager's instant reaction of THAT IS SO UNFAIR!!! isn't necessarily useful.

Others never do - have you never met those white-haired road rage maniacs who carve up cyclists and other drivers and scream at them?

Lucena

I find that I’m laughing less and less as I grow older, which is a pity as I love laughing like an idiot.

You know the type of laughter when you’re in hysterics and anyone asking what you’re laughing at, or any attempt to explain what you’re laughing at only makes you laugh harder. Less and less often unfortunately.

You never see people over 70 say breaking their sh1tes laughing so I'm afraid that's what's ahead of us.

I'm only 38 by the way.

Tom_Cruise

Lucena wrote: »

I find that I’m laughing less and less as I grow older, which is a pity as I love laughing like an idiot.

You know the type of laughter when you’re in hysterics and anyone asking what you’re laughing at, or any attempt to explain what you’re laughing at only makes you laugh harder. Less and less often unfortunately.

You never see people over 70 say breaking their sh1tes laughing so I'm afraid that's what's ahead of us.

I'm only 38 by the way.

I used to laugh so hard. I could never understand people who would laugh for a few seconds and stop. I cant remember the last time i laughed like that. I don't know why exactly.

Anyway some good answers here thanks for the replies.

Qualitymark

Lucena wrote: »

You never see people over 70 say breaking their sh1tes laughing so I'm afraid that's what's ahead of us.

Umm... not so! But they tend to do this when they're with other aulfellas/ aulwans.

When I was a kid Delia Murphy came to stay, and one day she and I were alone in the house. She sat on a tea chest and fell in and got stuck, and both she and I were so hysterical with laughter it took us ages before she could get out. I suppose Mrs Ambassador Kiernan was in her sixties at that stage.

conorhal

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

I used to laugh so hard. I could never understand people who would laugh for a few seconds and stop. I cant remember the last time i laughed like that. I don't know why exactly.

Anyway some good answers here thanks for the replies.

Because the older you get the more likely it is that you've heard your friends tell that amusing anecdote or joke at least twice before. Also, as you mature you are less likely to find yourself drunkenly falling off the top of a bus shelter and having your pants torn off by a railing on the way down, as you did in that anecdote that you've now told for the third time.

Thankfully the internet now provides endless acess to people doing stupid sh1te that causes me to squirt milk out of my nose!

fishy fishy

kids are happy because they have no idea about life - they are innocent of all bad things and so are happy, they believe everything they are told, and get excited over anything. Every day is an adventure :p

Teens are unhappy because of the pressure to do well at school, peer pressure, first relationships drama, growing up - therefore everything that goes wrong is so "unfair" and they all think they are hard done by.

IN the twenties then people think they are "grown up adults" that they know everything there is to learn about life - their advice is the best - after all they have lived for quarter of a century - they "know" how to enjoy life and be sensible at the same time - they will NEVER turn into a boring old person who life is wasted on - they will travel, see the world, plan for children, plan their lives and careers and tough sh*t on anyone who is less fortunate than them - they "own" the world.

Into the 30's then and they begin to realise that hell, they didn't know it all in their twenties - in fact, they kinda knew nothing but their "invincibility" fooled them. The know have a job, but instead of traveling the world they must knuckle down to pay for a wedding, kids, the mortgage on the big house that they bought etc.

In the 40's people are more settled, more cynical, and less judgmental of others. They have "heard it all before" and are "hearing it all again" from the new 20 year olds, but instead of trying to correct their ignorance, they let them get on with it and learn their own lessons. They are more tolerant of people and a hell of a lot less judgmental - they realise that life is not as black and white and as simple as they thought in their 20's and 30's. But they begin to fell more happy and tend to form their own opinions rather than listen to the hype.

In the 50's - now this is when life begins. Ok you may not have an 18 year old body, but you can have a better body than people in their mid 20's if you look after it, which you will have started doing in your own early 20's. This is the time you can take whatever holidays/travel seriously.

Don't know any further than that but I do know everybody is still learning and shouldn't judge anybody around them - after all the"know it all's" in their 20's have a few decades to go yet before they actually do know a bit more than they think.

:D

Wattle

I think contentment sets in as you grow older. I'm in my early 40's now and I'm light years happier than in my 20's and 30's. I think back then with a lack of maturity I went around wanting things I couldn't have, the best car, the best looking woman, loads of cash etc. If I couldn't have them I was unhappy so back then I had a lot of frustration that became depression. I seem to have mellowed out in my 40's. Not totally sure why that is but my lifestyle is certainly different. I gave up alcohol 10 years ago. I'm doing something rewarding. I exercise regularly. Maybe as you get old you just know the game better. You know when to get excited and when not to. You know what makes you happy and what doesn't. Maybe you just have a wiser perspective on things that comes with experience.

RossFixxxed

If anything, my feelings at 31 are stronger than they were at 21! I can control them a lot better, and show less. I've lost the 'it's all so unfair' slam the door kind of thing as the years have gone by.

I've formed longer, deeper relationships. I've seen how horrible things can go, and how precious life is. I've seen a lot of death and have come to realise how important every day is and how important those you love are!

My cat is sick, and yesterday I was in gales of laughter seeing her running around and being affectionate, right over to floods of tears for the poor little thing's health and back again! I haven't lost any passion, but my expecations have shifted and become more realistic.