Why do (some) elderly complain so much?

Again this does not make sense when you look at life expectancy & the fact it isn’t 80 plus when everyone develops medical & physical troubles!

“Roughly 83% to 85% of people in this age group use a prescription drug within any given month, and data from the NHS Business Services Authority indicates that up to 95% of people aged 60 to 65 receive at least one prescription over the course of a year”

”British cohort studies show that around 23% of people take five or more medications by age 69, while broader figures from Age UK show that millions of older adults manage complex, multi-drug prescriptions weekly”

But they are all still young…which was my point.

Why does calling someone old mean a 60 year old has to be the same as an 80 year old?

Prescriptions are 60 though aren’t they?

maybe:
older 60+
old 75-80+
elderly 80-90+ at the point when they have medical / physical troubles

Ok but I would class a 6month old as a baby, I would not class a 16 year old as a baby and actually I would not describe a 6month old as “young, it’s too broad a description.

Maybe we need more descriptive words to describe people over 60 to death! Because Old does not cover that time span and it’s silly to think the people in that age category have much in common.

This, absolutely this.

Since my diagnosis with several age related incurable things my world has become very small. I try to maintain some control over my life and, I suppose, it sounds like moaning.

Small things that never bothered me 20 years ago have become enormous.

60 was state retirement age for women until 2010. It was 65 for men but presumably easier to start the discounts at 60.

The discounts now vary, it’s often 65 for attractions.

In our area you don’t get the free bus pass until state retirement age, which is now nearly 67.

Why is 60 the age you qualify for free prescriptions or a free bus pass in London or many senior discounts to attractions?

I just think its such an odd way of thinking.

You can’t compare the life of a 10 yr old to a 16 yr old or a 6 month old but that doesn’t mean they aren’t all still young.

@BoldNavyCritic again you sound way to hung up the word old, why have you associated so many negative connotations to it? It’s not elderly which I would consider 80 plus but it is old.

Imo being old doesn’t mean you can’t work, walk etc that’s bizarre? I work with loads of 60 pluses. My 82 yr old father is still very active and sharp, my gran who died at 97 was the same.

Well state pension age was 60 so I’m not sure on your point there 😆

Agre with PP, 60 is not old! I’m 60 and currently having to deal with in-laws who are 85 they are old, they can barely go out, one has heart failure the other Parkinson’s. Their lives are very very limited.

Im just retired after working bloody hard in my own business to save enough to retire 7 years early. I can do anything I could do in my 40s and am looking forward to filling my days with lots of exciting things! You cannot compare my life to an 85 years early old!

It's because labelling anyone over 60 as old masks the huge difference between 60 and 85 and dismisses 60 as "past it" because of inbuilt ageism in society. I'm 61, working in a demanding job, getting down on the floor with my granddaughter, walking miles every day with a lively dog, etc - my body doesn't work quite as well as it did when I was 40, but my life now is more like it was 20 years ago than it is like my life will be when I am truly old, if I make it that far. Lumping everyone over 60 as old ignores that variation - there are still people alive who could be my grandparents biologically, so of course someone in their early sixties isn't impacted by age to the same extent as someone older. I think of myself as late middle age rather than old because that's how I function and what society expects of me, not because I'm pretending I'm younger than I am. Surely being old implies being entitled to a state pension, which I won't be for another six years?

How is it ageist to acknowledge age? I would class 60 as old, it’s not middle aged or young is it? Some people are way too hung up the word old.

My gran incidentally never moaned

This, some of my relatives get worked up over such silly things but it’s boredom & anxiety.

There is an enormous amount of luck with health in old age. Mine are early 80s and moan a little about hips and prostates but have been lucky, they can drive and get out the house. So many people lonely and in pain

my own granny - I don’t remember her moaning/ she loved her dog and a cup of tea!

Wait until you're old and then have another think about it.

People generally are more moany these days aren’t they? I’ve noticed this with very young g people too - in their twenties.
i think OP is in the wrong job, and really oughtn't be working with elderly people if she really can’t pick apart why some might be negative and complain. Pain, loss of capacity, loneliness, all do that. And a sense that you’re no longer heard.

DH and I 70s spend hours on YouTube /internet reading interesting stuff -it’s great not having to work and have hobbies and DGCs
though DH does moan quite a bit

I always wonder why my in laws are so nasty & grumpy. They both still live at home & are in good health despite almost hitting 80. They are so ungrateful towards their dc for all the help they give them. Luckily for them all their dc live locally and are constantly checking in on them etc. I wonder why the dc bother and don't just chuck them in a nursing home. They really don't deserve all the love they receive. All they give back is spiteful comments and moaning. They never compliment or show love. If I live to be that age I will be very grateful towards my dc if they still bother with me.

It's so depressing how ageist so many people are. 60 are over is not 'old'. There's no respect for the wisdom and maturity gained by older people. It sickens me.

@mondaytosunday yep I agree and I’m a liberal minded60 something- can’t help but think of a late 20s early 30 something single woman my husband was having to deal with - he as consultant - she was off 6 months with stress, ( in a not particularly stressful admin job) then back for 2 weeks, then on holiday for 2 weeks, back for 4 weeks then off with stress but not so stressed she couldn’t go to USA for 3 weeks whijst off - in my days when staring work late 70s, she woukd simply have been fired for being a piss taker - I think there’s been an awful lot of pandering i. Last 10 years to some chronic piss takers - businesses aren’t charity’s - it’s totally different to someone needing time off for chemotherapy etc!!

Oh for goodness sake. My mother worked all her life , throughout our childhood until she turned 60 when she gave up work to.look after my grandfather. She was born in 1925. Her own mother took un sewing as a way of earning money

My father's mother worked to maintain 7 children when her husband died. This included spending months picking rice and living away from home while the older children took care of the youngest and some placed with local more wealthy farmers as cheap labour while she was away

Women have worked while raising families for centuries, particularly when poverty drove them to

A lot of people are saying elderly people complain because of ill health or because their lives have 'got smaller' but these are not the examples the OP gives, i.e.

"the pavement is not swept, their favourite coffee is no longer stocked, the wording in a letter, a phone number doesn’t get picked up quickly enough or the call can is overseas"

I'm not elderly, but I can totally sympathise with all of those complaints! The thing is, that in the past society tended to improve and get better and yet we now live in an age when things seem to have regressed e.g.

• pavement not swept - decline in public services
• Poor wording in a letter - decline in education and grammar
• phone calls - poor customer service and problem resolution

Young people today just don't understand that you used to be able to call a human being and sort out a problem with a bill etc in a matter of minutes, without endless, looping messages and unintelligible call centre staff.

It's a general decline in education, standards and service they are complaining about, and I agree!

But the thing is if they are cognitively ok then they are capable of talking about things? Is it not possible to respond with topics you have heard from the radio, TV, newspaper, books, music. Birds seen in the garden, weather etc? My Dad rarely gets out and has sooo many medical appointments for his many and various ailments but he doesnt dwell on complaints he tries to engage me in conversations about different topics.