What 5 Things Make Seniors Cranky?

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Aging brings unexpected emotional challenges that often manifest as irritability or anger, but there's more to these reactions than simple crankiness. We explore the hidden causes behind age-related frustration and offer compassionate strategies for both seniors and their loved ones.

• Cognitive changes cause frustration as thinking slows down and decision-making takes longer
• Chronic pain creates constant discomfort that naturally affects mood and temperament
• Loss of independence when needing help with once-simple tasks is profoundly demoralizing
• Medication side effects often go unrecognized as contributors to mood changes
• Accumulated grief from losing friends and family creates an emotional burden
• Being aware of these changes in yourself or others is the first step toward compassion
• Reach out to healthcare providers if you notice significant mood or cognitive changes

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of aging, please reach out to your doctor, a friend, or a loved one. Don't try to handle everything alone. And remember to be safe and be kind.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Bill Monty's Guide for Gettin' Older.
Hello, my friends, and welcome,as the lady just sang, to Bill
Monty's Guide for Gettin' Older.
I am your host.
You might have guessed it.
Go on, take a guess.
Yeah, I'm Bill Monty.
I hope you're doing great today.
I hope you're having awonderful day.

(00:23):
It's starting to warm up upnorth a little bit, maybe not
quite as cold as it was, so I'mhoping that you are able to go
out and enjoy yourself a littlebit more and if you're down here
in the south with me, like I amin Florida, it's been beautiful
all the way along and we'rejust happy for it, because soon
it's going to be so hot, so hotthat if you're older it could

(00:45):
actually make you cranky.
I know when I was younger thereally hot, humid weather didn't
make me quite as cranky as itdoes these days and it got me
thinking.
Also a question from someonethe other day at work, younger
person and just talking aboutthings in general, the way the

(01:10):
world is right now.
She said to me everyone's soangry, but especially the older
people.
I'm assuming she wasn't tryingto insult me and maybe just
accepted me as a younger peer,younger, peer.

(01:30):
Dream on Bill.
But it got me to thinking whatare the things that make older
people a little bit angrier?
Now I am, I try to be evenkeeled, but I am quick to anger
sometimes.
Anger sometimes no surprise topeople who know me, but more so
than I used to be.
So I decided to do a littleinvestigation as to what causes

(01:53):
sudden aggression in seniors.
Now, the first one.
We're not going to dwell on areal long time because we've
talked about it in previousepisodes, and I will say once
again anything you hear and youagree with and you want to take
action on.
If it comes down to a mental orphysical situation, please,
please, please, consult yourdoctor.

(02:13):
As you get older, you're goingto start thinking slower.
I don't know how else to say it.
It's how I think of myself.
Words don't come as easy.
Situations where you maybenormally would have made a
quicker decision.
You're spending a little moretime thinking is this right?
Is that right?
You have to think about thingsso much more.

(02:35):
If you're aware of it, this cancause quite a bit of frustration
.
So take a deep breath.
If, like me, you're kind ofexperiencing some of these
things, try not to let it get toyou.
That much.
I'm not saying this is easy.
It can be tough, but if you'reaware of it there's something

(02:55):
you can do about it.
It can be tough, but if you'reaware of it there's something
you can do about it.
And if you are the loved one,especially the child, or maybe a
friend, a younger friend, of asenior who seems to be feeling
this way, give them a break.
Okay, we've all lived through alot, but also realize that some
of this could mean an onset ofdementia or Alzheimer's disease.

(03:16):
That can leave seniors feelingconfused and frustrated.
So if you're starting to seethe signs of forgetfulness and I
don't mean just forgetting aname or forgetting a word every
now and then, but someoneseeming suddenly lost where they
shouldn't be, unable toremember how to get places,
unable to remember names on aconsistent basis Please go see

(03:40):
your physician, have them, goand get tested Again.
I said we've had conversationsabout Alzheimer's disease and
other forms of dementia inprevious episodes, so please go
back and listen to those or Iwill send you to the Alzheimer's
disease website and that's theother place you can go for more

(04:02):
information.
Another item that can causefrustration or anger with people
is pain or discomfort.
Hey, let me tell you something.
I was in a car accident 20years ago and for the most part
it didn't bother me.
But in the last year or so I'vehad real problems with my back
and hip.
In a recent visit to the doctorhe confirmed it might be.

(04:25):
I'm starting to finally feelthe effects of that car accident
.
I can tell you, there isn't aday when I'm not in pain.
There's not a day where I canwalk like I used to.
I need to walk with a cane.
These days I don't have thebalance that I used to.
I don't like being on.
I don't take pain pills thatare prescribed.

(04:47):
I don't want to be drugged, butI do take over-the-counter pain
medication on a regular basis.
That frustrates me, and beingin pain a lot and all the time
frustrates me.
Keep in mind, especially if youknow that someone is in pain a
lot, that might be the reasonthey're feeling frustration.

(05:08):
So what can you do to help?
Well, offer them maybe a warmor a hot towel, or get them an
ice pack that they could put onwhere it's hurting.
Maybe offer a massage, or justsome kind and comforting words.
Loss of independence as we getolder the one thing we don't
want to admit is that we cannotdo all of the things we used to

(05:29):
do and we need help.
That's a tough one.
That cane I mentioned beforereally irritates me, but I need
that help.
I was at a doctor the other dayand he saw I was struggling to
get up and he kindly, withoutmaking a big deal out of it,

(05:50):
gave me a helping hand to standup from a chair.
The thought or realization thatyou now need assistance to do
the things you used to do andI'm talking about some simple
things, maybe around the house,like you know changing the guts
of a toilet that you used to beable to do by yourself, reaching

(06:12):
items on the floor, kneelingdown, picking things up, simple
things like that the realizationthat you can't do even the
simplest things that you coulddo just a few years ago really

(06:32):
frustrating.
I've become quite the purchaserof assistive aids for seniors.
You know that little long clothyou can pick things up from the
floor and something that helpsme put on socks.
I hate socks so I don't usethat very often Longer shoe
horns.
You know there are a lot ofitems that I use now that I
never would have used before andI'm probably going to be doing
an upcoming episode on some ofthe aids that I've tried that

(06:55):
you might find helpful for youor perhaps a senior in your life
.
Medication side effects.
You and I both know fromwatching TV all of these
medicines that are advertisedconstantly and don't get me
started on how irritating thatis they all have these side
effects right, and as you getolder, every time you go to a

(07:17):
doctor it seems like the onething they do.
Whatever you're going for be itanxiety, let's say, or for high
cholesterol or blood pressureor pain they're always
prescribing a new medicine foryou and they always want you to
give them a list of themedications you're taking.

(07:38):
And yet they don't seem to takethat into effect.
They don't seem to take thatinto account as much for how
this new medicine might interactwith the ones that you're
taking.
I know that's been my situationa couple of times and the
doctor should have known.
I mean hell.
If I know from watching thecommercials on TV, at least I

(08:01):
know from doing that I know abunch of medicines I will never
take Because when the sideeffect is death I can seriously
consider not taking thatparticular medicine, and it
seems like a lot of those on TV,are death.
But there are a lot of sideeffects that can happen with

(08:21):
medications, even the simplerones, and some of them can make
you angry or make you feel moreanxious.
So if you are noticing inyourself, or perhaps in a spouse
or someone else, that they seemto be angrier or more anxious
than usual and they haverecently started a new
medication, reach out to yourdoctor, reach out to a physician

(08:43):
and see if that might be theproblem.
Loss and depression.
As we get older, we lose ourfriends and we lose our family.
Besides the loss ofindependence, we're losing our
world, our environment as wehave always known it.
When you're older and I'm notnecessarily talking 50s and 60s

(09:06):
and 70s and 80s Sometimes you'llnotice in your 40s you start
making less new friends.
I don't know why that is, butyou have less new friends.
You rely more on the peopleyou've known for a long time and
as they start passing, youstart feeling more and more and
it makes you nostalgic for theold days and it can cause

(09:31):
depression.
Depression causes anger, it cancause you not to get as much
sleep, which can lead to anger.
These are all signs, all thingsthat happen as you age, for
most people.
I'm not going to say this is foreverybody.
Again, I am not a doctor.
I'm just telling you myobservations and doing research,

(09:53):
like you do by Googling it andlooking online.
But I can speak from my ownpersonal experience that these
are the things that add to theweight of the world on your
shoulders as you're older.
And one of the things you don'trealize when you're younger is
that that weight you carry onyour shoulders will become

(10:16):
harder and harder to bear.
You always think that, nomatter what happens as you get
older, you'll always be the sameperson you were at 50, or even
at 60, or even at 65.
And I'm here to tell you,friends, I hope you are, but you
probably won't be, and bearingthat weight will be harder.

(10:39):
So prepare yourself for it.
Be aware of yourself, of yoursurroundings.
Pick up on the little signalsthat people around you might
give you.
Do they seem perplexed orannoyed with you?
Are they constantly questioningyou?
What's wrong?
What's the matter?
Why are you upset?

(10:59):
If so, this might mean you needto see a physician.
Maybe you need to talk to atherapist.
Maybe you just need to cutyourself a break.
We're getting older friends.
That doesn't mean we'rebreaking down, but let's be real
about what is happening.
Doesn't mean the end is nigh,but it does mean we have to

(11:24):
start taking care of ourselves alittle bit more and thinking
about ourselves a little bitmore than we ever have before in
our lives.
A reminder if you are feelingthe anxiety of life, if you are
feeling that you need help,please reach out to your doctor,

(11:46):
your physician, to a friend,reach out to someone.
Do not just sit quietly andtake it all on yourself.
And, as always, please rememberto hit that like and subscribe
button, friends, and comment andshare.
I thank you so much for joiningme for another episode of Bill

(12:06):
Monty's Guide for Getting Older.
I hope you're taking care ofyourself.
It's a wild, wild world outthere, isn't it?
But as long as we're allstanding together, as long as
we're trying to stay pure in ourheart as best we can, as long

(12:27):
as we're concerned for ourselvesand for our neighbors, I think
we're going to be okay, don'tyou?
I hope you do.
I hope you're finding peace inyour life and I hope, as I
always do, that you'll rememberto be safe and be kind.

(12:48):
Now, where's that theme song Ifit's warm outside but you're
feeling colder, not sure what todo.
Without a friendly shoulderYou're not alone, so start
feeling bolder.
Welcome to Bill Monty's Guidefor Getting Older.