Study Reveals Young Adults Feel Older on Stressful Days: Implications for Mental and Physical Health

Unlike a substantial body of research on “stress linked to a range of negative health outcomes, making older people feel older than they are,” there has been little research that has looked at this issue. in younger adults (teenagers). , twenties, and thirties).

This is despite “the greater stress on younger adults now, compared to the level of stress on previous generations when they were young.”

This is what led Shevon Neubert, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, to believe that it is time to lead a team of researchers in the field of stress, to study the relationship between feeling stressed , daily changes and stresses, and the feeling of aging in younger adults.

The study, published by the Journal of Mental Health Sciences on March 1, concluded that younger adults “can feel older on difficult days, or when they lose control of their lives.” “

Some days make people feel much older than others (Pixel)

Newbert, in a media statement, explained that new research has confirmed the truth of the saying that “some days make people feel old much more than others,” when problems arise that was not expected, that bad luck still falls, and some days pass so young. like weeks.

Emphasizing that gaining a deeper understanding of this phenomenon – in all age groups – can help us “protect our mental and physical health.”

The feeling of age increases with increasing weight

In this study, researchers collected data from 107 younger adults, between the ages of 18 and 36 (with an average age of about 20 years), and conducted a daily survey for 9 consecutive days, to monitor:

• How much did they weigh each day?
• How much control did they feel in their lives that day?
• How old did they feel and look like that day?

The main finding “showed that on days when study participants reported higher-than-normal stress levels, they reported looking and feeling older,” Neubert said.

The stress phenomenon that makes people feel old isn’t limited to the elderly (Pixel)

Explaining that this was only true on days when participants reported “feeling less in control of their lives than usual.”

Neubert said, “These findings tell us that the stress that makes people feel old is not limited to the elderly, but that it happens to young people as well. “

It is important to “know that exposure to chronic stress over time can have negative effects,” when people begin to complain of high levels of stress for their age, to the point that it affects their age, “as they move from childhood. to middle age.” (Forty and fifty).

A warning that chronic stress levels among young people could adversely affect their overall health in the future.

The effects of stress are not limited to our nerves only

A 2022 American Psychological Association poll showed that “more than a quarter of US adults report feeling too stressed to work on most days,” according to Pandora Dewan, chief science correspondent at Newsweek.

She explained that the issue is not limited to our brain and mind alone, but stress can make us look and feel older, even if we are not yet in our twenties, these effects will show on us “on the days when we find our minds. living out of control.”

More than a quarter of adults in the United States feel too heavy to work (Pixels)

Chronic stress levels can have far-reaching effects on our mental and physical health, including “anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, asthma and diabetes. “

Besides the fact that stress can cause chronic fatigue, obesity, digestive system problems, and immune system disorders, “all of these can make us feel older than we really are. “

Free test to measure how bad your stress levels are

Using data from nearly 500 Norwegians, it emerged that 13% of them were at risk of severe burnout, with burnout becoming a “syndrome” recognized by the World Health Organization.

A team of researchers designed the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), in the form of a set of questions, to assess 4 common symptoms of chronic stress and fatigue:

• Fatigue (feeling tired).
• Psychological distance (separating ourselves from others).
• Cognitive difficulty (difficulty remembering things and solving problems).
• Emotional vulnerability (mental disorder and emotional reactions).

It was then compared to the standards adopted in 7 countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and the Netherlands.

This aims to detect early signs of burnout, “so that people can reassess their lives and get help, before they reach the point of collapse.”

With a simple, quick test available for free online, “it can be an early warning that you may be on the verge of widespread burnout,” according to INC.

Stress can cause chronic fatigue, obesity, digestive problems, and immune system disorders (Pexels)

The test questions revolve around things like: how you feel when you wake up in the morning, your understanding of the value of your work, and how often you feel like you working without passion.

In addition to areas such as work-home conflict, workload, job satisfaction, and psychological stress, issues also include feeling sad without knowing why, and feeling uncertain about the value of work.

Clarity and advice

The research team explains that “they cannot guarantee that the results will be correct, if you do not live in the seven countries mentioned,” but at the same time they believe that “the results will be enough to provide entrepreneurs from all over the world, at least. a rough idea, of the degree of burning they suffer.” “.

Leon de Beer, a psychologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and leader of the assessment tool design team, advises: “If you want to know how close you are to burnout, you can you try yourself online, because you can recognize this risk means that you can take steps to prevent it.” “Fatigue happens.”