How do people deal with getting older if perpetually broke and mentally ill?

[BluesRunTheGame]

And the latter just seems to make more certain the former, as one watches one's youth slip away? I used to only want young love but that never came, and I'm not so young anymore (36). At best the future looks incredibly drab, at worst downright torturous.

If I was healthy and could make money I could see more possibilities but man can things look bleak as you approach middle-age, only having ever worked minimum wage jobs, and not even for a couple of years at that.

 

[regular john]

I am 50 now and always had problems with discipline as far as work is concerned. I also managed to work only minimum wage jobs and never for longer than 2 or 3 years. As a result , at the age of 50 I have zero money earned for pension. If I live long enough to arrive at pension age I will die of hunger due to zero money saved for pension.

 

[Awakenings]

41 here. Speaking for myself it doesn't get easier...

Watching people around you get old, get sick, and die. Family members, celebrities on television I grew up with. I watch more and more parts of my youth slip into the darkness. I try to hang on, but time marches onward. With or without my consent.

It's even worse for the youth of today. What's left for them? The scarps of a once functional economy?

I wish I could give more encouraging words... But, thats not why we're on this fourm is it.

Try to stay as healthy as you can. Eat right, maintain a healthy weight. Once your body starts to break down, there's not much turning it around. If you can, try to keep enjoying the things you once did. Heck, I still have my SegaCd hooked up! Don't let time steal all the joy you had away. Sometimes the little things are all we have left.

Take care.

 

[BluesRunTheGame]

And like all the girls aren't hot anymore. Once over 30. It's a human tragedy.

(Or else a trap our man Darwin could be so very proud of.)

 

[booray]

Can't speak for everybody, but I'm choosing to ctb over continuing to just exist into old age being depressed, miserable, and poverty-stricken.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

Old age is the worst hell. it seems most humans are brainwashed into believing many falsehoods among those that Death , old age is something that happens to other people and that decades are a long time or that old age is something to look forward to. Old age brings dementia, diseases, pain, frailty, powerlessness , desires but no ability to to fullfill those desires nor even ability to work or to have energy. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is the first to decline in old age, the brain shrinks, wrinkles arthritis , uhggg. Old age and Death are the most certain certainties and old age is pure hell. Time passes extremely fast. life is crap.

 

[newave3]

Yes I'm 61 and I exercised too much in my life.....too much tennis,football,basketball and bicycle riding.Bike riding is good to do at any age but the other sports have given me pains especially in the hip and knees.
So not only am I a mental wreck, I am slowly turning into a physical wreck. Ahhh yes my golden years look like shit.
Only one option left and we all know what that is.

 

[eternalmelancholy]

Holy shit this is the scariest and the most eye opening thread I've read on SS. I am already stricken with health problems even in my early-ish age. At this rate my body will be falling apart by middle age.

I don't have a lot of money and no real way to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Does this mean I will end up homeless when I am no longer able to work? I always knew people were lying when they said life gets better when you get older.

 

[newave3]

Holy shit this is the scariest and the most eye opening thread I've read on SS. I am already stricken with health problems even in my early-ish age. At this rate my body will be falling apart by middle age.

I don't have a lot of money and no real way to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Does this mean I will end up homeless when I am no longer able to work? I always knew people were lying when they said life gets better when you get older.

I don't know what country you are in but here in the U.S., you can apply for SSDI if you have worked a certain number of years and had SS taken out of your paycheck. The number of years to qualify is very low. I believe the SSA calls them work quarters. There is also SSI which gives you some money each month if you have a qualifying health condition. There is also section 8 housing and HUD housing. So,no the future is not all that bleak.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

If you are talking about older people from outside this community: they probably have experienced decades-worth of being force fed platitudes.

 

[scarletohara]

And the latter just seems to make more certain the former, as one watches one's youth slip away? I used to only want young love but that never came, and I'm not so young anymore (36). At best the future looks incredibly drab, at worst downright torturous.

If I was healthy and could make money I could see more possibilities but man can things look bleak as you approach middle-age, only having ever worked minimum wage jobs, and not even for a couple of years at that.

im 45 and the only way i can deal with life and the never ending stresses is to not look beyond the day that i am living in. if i dont do this then i get overwhelmed with everything, its just too much, mentally, physically, emotionally. dont put pressure on urself to have all the answers

 

[newave3]

This is just my opinion. i 'm not a scientist . i'm just an average idiot. But i have suffered just like most on this forum. imo the future is bleak for everyone when they hit 80 years old as dementia sets in. And as we know the decades fly by as in a blink of an eye.
The brain starts to decline at age 25.

Neurons in the brain can't divide like other cells like your skin cells for example and the skin at 80 is really bad soooo... .

Why can't neurons undergo cell division?

Many cells in the human body can divide and reproduce, making healing possible. Neurons, however, cannot reproduce, which makes diseases affecting the brain particularly crippling. Why can't neurons

biology.stackexchange.com

UCSB Science Line

scienceline.ucsb.edu

everyone knows you become demented in old age. it's even a cliche a joke in movies " senior moments" . that's not funny to me but losing my cognitive abilities is a hellish nightmare

I was referring more to your thoughts of becoming homeless and trying to offer you some hope there.
As far as losing mental faculties after age 80, I can't offer any hope. Some people are still sharp after 80 but they are in the minority. Most people are in a steep cognitive decline after that age.

 

[Myforevercharlie]

And like all the girls aren't hot anymore. Once over 30. It's a human tragedy.

Thank you so much

 

[FuneralCry]

I'm young at the moment but the thought of getting older just depresses me as we just watch ourselves mentally and physically decline. I already have health problems at my young age and I feel extreme dread towards the future. I think in general an average human life is far too long, I hate the idea that I could have decades of this. I cannot comprehend how some people still have the will to live at an older age.

 

[EraseRewind]

I'm not sure if I consider myself lucky or not, I'm 52 and health isn't great, ok ish at the moment, but my doctor and I know that my life expectancy is much shortened because of 30 plus years of alcoholism and some failed o/d attempts. I've wanted to ctb for many years but I've still not plucked up the courage to try again, I've got easy access to CO and SN but I just can't get it together.

If I live on I can see possible years of continuing poor health and then care homes, I have no family other than my wife in this country so it could fall to her to care for me and I don't want that. I thought once June 21 had passed I would be up for ctb but I'm just faltering.

I worry about money always because I simply am unemployable (my own fault) regardless of the qualifications and experience, so it's university studies for me only.

Safe to say my life has taken some strange turns but this ageing may be the worse outcome yet.

Sit tight everyone.

 

[BluesRunTheGame]

@Myforevercharlie Er yeah I was hammered when I wrote that... I love it when an old drunk thread resurfaces!