Anyone now understand why some get paranoid during aging process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't worry so much about getting paranoid, but I do worry about getting jaded and cynical -- not just in relation to politics, but in relation to other issues as well. I feel like I have seen too many people who seemed made for each other get divorced and mistreat each other and their kids in the process, and I've seen too many incompetent people get promoted, etc.

I work for a university and one of my colleagues retired and his incompetent successor dismantled the program my colleague literally spent decades building -- mostly out of spite. This man is literally watching his life's work disappear in front of his eyes. (Yeah, he's retired but he still pays attention and knows these things.)

I am watching my greedy relatives fight over an inheritance and the person to whom the funds belong isn't even dead yet!
I've seen bright, capable students do stupid things and die in random things like car accidents before their lives have even begun. I'm almost sixty and sometimes it seems like the sadness in life outweighs the joy, and it also feels like a lot of people's success and happiness in life feels pretty randomly distributed. good people get nothing and jerks get rewarded.

I don't expect to be ranting about Fox news, but I do worry that I will be jaded and cynical in my old age.

OP here, yup, that too. I have seen such crazy in the workplace. We have insanity going on over money in our family too, but I always thought the players would be trouble. Were you surprised? I knew who I couldn't trust since I was a teenager, maybe younger. Yup, I've seen jerks rewarded and good people screwed over. I try to be grateful for little things and not get jaded, but it is a nutty world out there.

Oh, yeah, we have a situation in our family where an executor has been found to be stealing from the estate in a number of relatively small, sneaky ways. There weren’t huge amounts of money involved, so we couldn’t help but wonder, what was the point of doing that? Did she hate her sibling so much that she just wanted to pull something over on her? Is she a little mentally ill, or is her brain aging to the point that her sense of ethics has disappeared?

This was someone that I never would have suspected of stealing or lying in this way. The only thing that makes sense is some kind of effects of aging, although the executor is only in her mid sixties, so not all that old.

An executor is allowed to take a payment for services, but there are regulations. Regarding how much. Was it beyond that amount?

[Anonymous]

My once extremely intelligent brother has become paranoid and delusional. I suspect it is bipolar with schizoactive disorder, but it is donetimes much worse than other times. He is in his early 50s, but it started in his 20s. He has wasted a fortune and alienated family members. It is mental illness, and it can be scary to watch family members succumb to it, with little you can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't worry so much about getting paranoid, but I do worry about getting jaded and cynical -- not just in relation to politics, but in relation to other issues as well. I feel like I have seen too many people who seemed made for each other get divorced and mistreat each other and their kids in the process, and I've seen too many incompetent people get promoted, etc.

I work for a university and one of my colleagues retired and his incompetent successor dismantled the program my colleague literally spent decades building -- mostly out of spite. This man is literally watching his life's work disappear in front of his eyes. (Yeah, he's retired but he still pays attention and knows these things.)

I am watching my greedy relatives fight over an inheritance and the person to whom the funds belong isn't even dead yet!
I've seen bright, capable students do stupid things and die in random things like car accidents before their lives have even begun. I'm almost sixty and sometimes it seems like the sadness in life outweighs the joy, and it also feels like a lot of people's success and happiness in life feels pretty randomly distributed. good people get nothing and jerks get rewarded.

I don't expect to be ranting about Fox news, but I do worry that I will be jaded and cynical in my old age.

OP here, yup, that too. I have seen such crazy in the workplace. We have insanity going on over money in our family too, but I always thought the players would be trouble. Were you surprised? I knew who I couldn't trust since I was a teenager, maybe younger. Yup, I've seen jerks rewarded and good people screwed over. I try to be grateful for little things and not get jaded, but it is a nutty world out there.

Oh, yeah, we have a situation in our family where an executor has been found to be stealing from the estate in a number of relatively small, sneaky ways. There weren’t huge amounts of money involved, so we couldn’t help but wonder, what was the point of doing that? Did she hate her sibling so much that she just wanted to pull something over on her? Is she a little mentally ill, or is her brain aging to the point that her sense of ethics has disappeared?

This was someone that I never would have suspected of stealing or lying in this way. The only thing that makes sense is some kind of effects of aging, although the executor is only in her mid sixties, so not all that old.

An executor is allowed to take a payment for services, but there are regulations. Regarding how much. Was it beyond that amount?

The problem, apparently, was that the executor was not accounting for the amounts she was taking.From what I was told, when she found cash in the house, she just kept it for herself, when she sold items from the house, she just pocketed the money. It was a thousand dollars here, a hundred there, and ended up adding up to thousands of dollars that she just kept without including the amounts in the total she was turning in on court paperwork.

So it looked as though the estate was smaller than it actually was. When they divided the estate, they were each supposed to get 50%. The one sibling got 50% and the sibling who was executor got her 50% plus the executor fee PLUS the thousands that she had simply taken without accounting for. She eventually got found out and had to pay her sibling back and also pay fines to the court.

When I heard about it, I just thought that it seemed like a silly risk to take for the sums of money involved. That’s why I think that my cousin must have been affected by either mental illness or just some kind of cognitive decline. It didn’t make sense to do what she did and my sense is that it is not something she would have done when she was younger. She had appeared to be a very professional business woman who ended up stealing from her own sibling. She and her husband have moved away, so I don’t know what’s happening with them now, but I do hope she is getting some kind of help.

[Anonymous]

I have become a paranoid, bitter and cynical version of myself since I was subjected to absolutely horrific prenatal "care" my last pregnancy. Very eye opening how horrible healthcare "heroes" can be. Makes me distrustful of basically everybody in any kind of position of power, including professions like car mechanics. A car mechanic has a position of power over me because I know nothing about cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: maybe it's not the aging brain, but maybe it's life experience. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum I hope we all can admit there have been so much lies and deception on both sides. No matter where you fall with the vaccine debates I think there have been a lot of mis-truths and coverups. I remember when the lab leak theory was consider tinfoil hat stuff that only the Dailymail would cover. Having a parent fading with dementia I see you can't trust anyone. Contractors will make up issues and you have to get 3 or 4 opinions. Family members will crawl out of the woodwork and do all sorts of deceptive things. You find out the pillars of the community are secretly stealing money or doing other nefarious things. I told my husband nothing can happen to him because he restores my faith in humanity.

After all I have experienced in my 50s, I'm afraid by my 70s and 80s I will be running around muttering "Don't trust the government!" "Fauci, Trump, Biden and son....all crooks and liars!!!!!" "Cloth masks work, no they don't, yes they do, no they don't , yes they do, no masks, wear masks" "The government lies....republicans, democrats...you can't trust them. They just want to profit from the presidency." I'll be in a corner rocking and muttering these things and a nice young lady will approach me and say "mam, I know, I know, the government lies and you can't trust anyone....it's time for your pureed lunch and then after that we will have a nice game of BINGO. I promise it isn't rigged and the government has nothing to do with it!"

Looks like you've already crossed over into the Fox News territory. It's not age, it's your critical thinking skills that you gave up. Please don't use the term " both sides" in any intelligent company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's aging brain (and low cognitive level in general). Smart brains can navigate the BS to find enough of the truth. Weak brains can't, so they have to put up defensive mental walls against everything.

+1000

But it's not about aging brain and everything to do with low cognitive level.

[Anonymous]

OP, you sounds as if you are an observer on your own life and depend on other people's opinions of you.

Stop doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when everyone thought margarine was good for you. I just don't really believe things anymore.

BAHAHA. This sums it up.

[Anonymous]

Learn something new every day. Play an instrument, pick up a new skill, learn a new language. Exercise and work on coordination and balance. Added bonus, you won’t have time to go down dark conspiracy holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My phD was in Communication and my thesis was on the panopticon. I was paranoid in my 20s and now in my 40s, I see a lot of those nightmare/dystopian things have come to fruition...

One may call it paranoia, or simply healthy skepticism. The more you follow the money and ask who profits from the persuasive messaging I hear from media, tech, etc, the more I understand who is running the charade. You can't honestly think there's any other source for the Covid virus rather than the Wuhan Institute for Virology, funded by one Anthony Fauci. Why did the government pay him half a million dollars in royalties in 2021?

https://moneyinc.com/dr-fauci-net-worth/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: maybe it's not the aging brain, but maybe it's life experience. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum I hope we all can admit there have been so much lies and deception on both sides. No matter where you fall with the vaccine debates I think there have been a lot of mis-truths and coverups. I remember when the lab leak theory was consider tinfoil hat stuff that only the Dailymail would cover. Having a parent fading with dementia I see you can't trust anyone. Contractors will make up issues and you have to get 3 or 4 opinions. Family members will crawl out of the woodwork and do all sorts of deceptive things. You find out the pillars of the community are secretly stealing money or doing other nefarious things. I told my husband nothing can happen to him because he restores my faith in humanity.

After all I have experienced in my 50s, I'm afraid by my 70s and 80s I will be running around muttering "Don't trust the government!" "Fauci, Trump, Biden and son....all crooks and liars!!!!!" "Cloth masks work, no they don't, yes they do, no they don't , yes they do, no masks, wear masks" "The government lies....republicans, democrats...you can't trust them. They just want to profit from the presidency." I'll be in a corner rocking and muttering these things and a nice young lady will approach me and say "mam, I know, I know, the government lies and you can't trust anyone....it's time for your pureed lunch and then after that we will have a nice game of BINGO. I promise it isn't rigged and the government has nothing to do with it!"

anyone that has worked in private industry has seen liars and thiefs. it seems to be correlated with success in a capitalist economy.

[Anonymous]

You can easily get paranoid if you jump back and forth between Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and many others. Add in social media and you can go crazy. I limit myself to the PBS Newshour, the WSJ and NYT. The latter two OP Ed pages are heavily biased so I generally avoid them but sometimes they say something of note. I really fear for younger generations and their ability to sort through all that hits them.

[Anonymous]

A couple of points.
Someone wiser and older than me has reminded people my age (30s), none of these politicians care about you. None.

An unrelated podcaster comments sometimes, the minute you are rooting for a politician, start re thinking your decisions. They don’t care about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of points.
Someone wiser and older than me has reminded people my age (30s), none of these politicians care about you. None.

An unrelated podcaster comments sometimes, the minute you are rooting for a politician, start re thinking your decisions. They don’t care about you.

Me, adding. And yes, vote for people. But don’t root for them, don’t promote them (at least not too much). No sense in loyalty - yea an important issue could be at stake - but don’t be loyal to the person, be loyal to the issue. They may not even follow through with their promises. Vote, don’t love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lab leak theory is still for lunatics.

Given all the evidence for it and the fact that the US intelligence community has said it has to be taken seriously, why do you say it’s for “lunatics”?

I’m genuinely curious - I’m trying to understand the process by which someone dismisses everyone who disagrees with some received political line on a super-complex issue as a “lunatic”. It doesn’t make intuitive sense to me, but it’s a very common mentality these days and I wonder about the thought process by which it’s sustajbed