Are any other seniors experiencing a need to cry more often?

I used to cry a lot. I was always told “I was too sensitive for my own good”! I’ve learned that is very true, however there is nothing wrong with being sensitive. Now at 65, I hardly ever cry. Even when something is really. (Those damned ASPCA commercials do still get me!) Both crying too much and never crying can be seen in depression, especially when it’s out of character. It’s hard o be human, each stage has its challenges but with getting older, in my experience, it’s as if we worked so hard to create ours lives and now we have to learn how to let it all go. It can sink you down into the depths of that nasty depression. The best things I have learned is to live in the moment, get busy with something you love (that’s not unhealthy) and keep in mind that dwelling on unhappy things makes us unhappy. Yes, lots of things suck but if you can’t change it, accept it and move on because we waste our precious dwindling time dwelling. Easier said than done, I know. Also, knowing you’re not alone may help.

Thanks for posting this link. I am glad someone started the discussion and coming from the surgeon general will hopefully make an impact.

I think it would be great if one focused on what is really important in life.

Beautifully said.

So very true

" It’s hard to be human, each stage has its challenges but with getting older, in my experience, it’s as if we worked so hard to create our lives and now we have to learn how to let it all go."

Profound. I may have to steal this if you're OK with it. That statement says it all for me. I used to look towards a future, now all of a sudden, that future, that hope, is gone. I was also always told I was too sensitive. Well, that's just how it is. I've learned to let a lot of things roll, but I'm still sensitive, and to tell you the truth, I'm generally pretty depressed about life, but I'm really glad for my sensitivity. I think it has made life tougher but also much more beautiful.

Thank you, katdst, for posting this, and I wish you love, joy and peace.

Teary-eyed more.

Maybe the heart opens more as one ages.

CindyC
EVCHrcc

Tears can definitely open our hearts. I welcome them.

I agree about those ASPCA commercials. I turn them off the moment they come on and I will not go back to the station until they are over. As a result, I wouldn't respond because I miss the important part of the message. I love dogs, cats, etc. and I'm aware of their suffering but it's too much for me. At my age I avoid dark movies and continuous news. I keep current on what's happening and consider myself well-informed. I'm a senior. I lived through the 60's. I can still be sympathetic to suffering, but when I start feeling that pit in my stomach over a commercial--well I have to remove myself. I care about the world but I also value my mental health. Now I'm off to watch some kitten videos!!😉

I'm a 70-year-old man with imperfect health - some pain issues and failing mobility - and I was raised just like the stereotypical Western male: “Men never cry.”
Well, THAT bullshit is over! As the years go by, having been “daddy” to six beautiful cats in my life and fearing that climate change may turn out to be a severe global disaster, I cry every day. I think of my beloved lost kitties one by one and tear up…doing it right now…sniff!… I see fresh-faced 18 -21-year-old youth still living with mom and dad, and I fear for society when these become voters. How will THEY run civilization when they’ve never had working careers? IS Love REALLY all you need? Many of my generation believed it so. Were we wrong? It's looking more and more like things have gone wrong.

I'm an anxious person and have been since the Sixties - when I was 16. A person can't have lived through the last 50 years and not feel disturbed.

So I find myself tearing up at the sound of a good old rock song, the remembered images of JFK, John Lennon, John Denver, Freddy Mercury, George Harrison and dozens more beloved artists of all types.

Sometimes it just takes the sudden realization that most of the people in my life are already dead to bring a tear.

I also ball my eyes out at great rock concerts. I lost it at Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Peter Frampton, Joe Cocker and Gord Lightfoot. And yet people don't see me as weird or abnormal. In fact, I've stayed pretty hip for my age! Blue jeans and good weed, man, and that's a party. I get respect.

So...the answer is clearly that we aging weepers are not crazy because we cry.
I say “Cry Out Loud!”

Ya, maybe. Let's hope so.