If you were to poll random individuals about the state of their mental health, you would likely be greeted with widely different answers: some are feeling great, others are dealing with significant struggles, and a large portion are somewhere in between. You may also notice that the most common answers vary depending on several factors, including gender, location, and, in particular, age. Adulthood is full of changes, and with those changes come mental health challenges. This is why cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy remain common treatment options; they can address a wide variety of difficulties.
It is completely normal for mental health to shape and reshape itself over the course of a person’s adult life. You may struggle with anxiety for a week, or it may linger for decades. While every person is different, understanding the general shape of mental wellness changes across adulthood can help you better identify when to seek help. If you are having a hard time achieving the mental and emotional state you want, consider how therapy may be able to help you attain your goals. You deserve a life you enjoy!
Young Adults
Young adults are typically considered to be those aged 17 to 25 or 26. This time of life is often tumultuous, and things are changing fast. School is ending (and possibly beginning again if the individual chooses to pursue further education). It is common to relocate during this time, whether for school, a new job opportunity, or to be with family.
As many as a quarter of young adults will marry before they transition to middle adulthood (age 25 and beyond). People may begin having children at this time (25.1% of those aged 20-24, 8.7% for those younger than 20). This is also the time when they may struggle to find employment, frequently job hop, or compete aggressively to ascend the corporate ladder and secure steady roles.
All of these changes can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health. Anxiety and high levels of stress are common, as people struggle to identify their place in life and deal with constant logistical and emotional changes. In addition, many young adults lose their stable support structures; they distance themselves from parents who supported them, leave their high school and college peer groups, and often move to new locations with no existing contacts. All of these factors can make maintaining mental wellness a challenge.
Adulthood
Adulthood, generally considered to be ages 25 to 59, is commonly associated with greater mental stability, and research supports this. Once a person becomes more situated in life, mental wellness tends to improve consistently. Rather than the frequent, tumultuous unpredictability and constant low-lying emotional difficulties of younger adulthood, adults instead tend to encounter sudden mental crises punctuating longer periods of stability.
For example, significant life changes such as the birth of a child (much more common in those aged 30+), sudden health issues (e.g., a cancer diagnosis), divorce, or the death of a parent, sibling, or friend are more common during this stage. Each can contribute to both temporary and long-term mental health challenges. Stress levels may remain high during these years, but they are often moderated by more mature emotional control.
However, when challenges arise, adults are less likely to seek help than young adults. Research indicates that a person’s propensity to address emotional wellness in therapy decreases steadily as age increases, with the highest rate of participation occurring before age 26.
Adulthood marks the time in which an individual is most likely to be diagnosed with mental health conditions as well. What may have been noted in young adulthood as difficulty coping, anger issues, or easy overwhelm might now find a name: bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, PTSD, OCD, and more. When adult patients seek treatment, they typically have better outcomes due to targeted assistance.
Retirement
Retirement, beginning at age 60 and proceeding until around 75, is commonly believed to be the time when everything “falls into place.” Adults are concluding their careers and looking forward to free time to pursue their hobbies and interests. They likely have an entrenched sense of their own identity at this point and suffer less commonly from anxiety and depression tied to their own feelings of uncertainty concerning themselves.
However, retirement can be characterized by more stress than people originally anticipate. Most do not plan for the changes to mental health they begin to experience as significant free time with little to fill it. Socialization declines as this group no longer goes to work, where they enjoyed most of their interaction with other people. Relationships may become strained as one or both partners are not accustomed to the amount of time they spend with each other; habits that were formerly small pet peeves or simmering frustrations can now escalate into significant crises.
As a result, mental health challenges typically begin to rise again during this time, creating the U-shaped curve that most frequently describes mental well-being over a lifetime. Those who have not sought help for their mental wellness struggles may now find that they have developed entrenched behaviors or attitudes that reinforce their difficulties, but it is not too late to find solutions!
Older Adulthood
Age 75 onward sees further increases in mental health challenges. People are now often struggling with cognitive and physical limitations, which contribute to a sharp rise in depression that only increases over time. Depressive diagnoses of less than 6% surge upward to their peak (27%) as a person reaches age 85, and those who live in nursing home environments see an even starker jump to 49%.
Socialization becomes a challenge at this age, as many of a person’s friends and family have passed away, and physical or cognitive limitations may interfere with the ability to build new support structures and socialize. Anxieties about death, legacy, finances, and self- or home care can all exacerbate stress levels.
Addressing Mental Health Challenges at All Life Stages
Mental health challenges over a lifetime trend toward a U-shaped curve: high difficulties early in life followed by a period of relative stability and improving mental health, which gradually shifts back toward struggles if not properly managed. The good news is that investing in mental health pays dividends, regardless of your age.
Young adults
Those younger than age 26 are the most likely to seek mental health help from therapy: 11.6% compared to 9.1% (45-64) and 5.7% (over age 65). Cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps individuals identify their thought patterns and take control of them for improved outcomes, assists young people in developing coping mechanisms that will last a lifetime.
This can make them more resilient to stressors, anxiety, and depression. However, this cohort is less likely than others to use medication to assist with their mental health challenges.
Adults
Adults typically attend therapy less often, instead preferring to solve their mental challenges on their own. This path has varying levels of success, which is why adults are more likely than young adults to eventually take advantage of medical interventions to support their mental well-being.
During this stage of life, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) often pairs well with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). This approach focuses on addressing personality disorders, which are more likely to be diagnosed in adulthood, and resolving interpersonal conflicts common at work and in marriage. Mindfulness and a tolerance for distress are significant focus areas during this time.
Retirement
Retirement-age individuals are even less likely than adults to pursue therapy services, though their rate of medication for mental wellness is higher. At this stage of life, those who have not invested some level of effort into their emotional well-being have likely created a locked-in situation. For example, they may rely on specific people present (or absent) in their lives who have shaped their behavior, or they may develop certain habits as coping mechanisms.
However, retirement is a ripe opportunity for change. On the cusp of the transition between working and the joy of self-pursuit, those who invest in themselves can find new inspiration and enthusiasm by overcoming the mental health challenges they have encountered over the course of their lives.
Older adulthood
Older adults are likely very familiar with the state of their mental and emotional well-being at this point. Unfortunately, aging individuals often struggle with proper mental health diagnoses; depression, for example, often takes an atypical form that comprises physical pain, insomnia, weight loss, and decreased attention rather than intense bouts of sadness or apathy that characterize the diagnosis in younger people.
However, therapy and mental health intervention at this stage of life can be transformative. Socialization with practitioners is invaluable for its own health benefits, and taking control of one’s mental state, even in the presence of cognitive or physical challenges, can help to make a person’s later years rich and fulfilling. With the wealth of experience built over a lifetime, older adults are uniquely positioned to bring strong perspectives and wisdom to bear during their own care.
Take Charge of Your Mental Health at Any Age
Have you been attending to your mental health? Whether this concept is new to you or you have experienced difficulties that impact your ability to live life the way you want to, getting help is a smart choice. For many, therapy is a great place to begin; it provides a safe place to explore and determine the next best steps. Contact Aquila Recovery Clinic to try an individual therapy session and see how it can change the way you think about yourself, your life, and the many stressors you face each day.