No need to have white hair or forget your glasses on your head to feel an “old -fashioned”. This somewhat vague, often unpredictable moment, where we say: “Here, it’s more like before”. But then, at what age this feeling falls on us?
The signs that give us this impression
According to a study by researchers Stanford Medicinethe average age when people say they feel a first “old -fashioned” would be … 41 years old. Far from the image that we usually make of the “great age”.
Why this precise figure? It is not a striking birthday or a brutal event, but rather an accumulation of small everyday details that play the spoilsports, like:
- Having back pain when you get up, when you slept “as usual”.
- Realizing that we no longer understand a Tiktok joke or that the name of a rapper mentioned in a discussion says absolutely nothing.
- Realize that we have experienced a world without smartphones, without high speed internet, and with telephone boxes with parts.
Little things, but that mark a border. A kind of quiet shift towards a new phase of life, no less rich, just … different.
Biologically, what’s going on in the forties?
This famous “old -fashioned”, which is believed to be purely psychological, is actually much more than a simple state of mind. Science confirms that it coincides with a notable biological change. Stanford researchers highlighted a significant metabolic rocking around 44 years.
What exactly is going on? Metabolism slows down: alcohol and caffeine become more difficult to eliminate, hearty meals digest less well. The muscles, they respond a little less well, despite the efforts in the gym. Even the skin, this faithful companion, becomes a little more capricious.
Good news, however: these transformations affect men and women in equal parts. No, it is not “the fault of female hormones”. It is simply biology.
-Around 60 years old, a more frank step
If the forties gently begins certain developments, the sixties marks a more frank stage. There, the body sends more supported signals: the metabolism of carbohydrates becomes more irregular, which makes weight gain easier, even without significant change in food.
The immune system, too, slightly gave the guard, making infections more frequent, and slower recovery. All without red alarm, but with a small inner voice that says: “What if we slowed down the pace a little?” »». Again, nothing alarming. These transformations are not walls, but turns.
A perception that changes with generations
Today, traditional aging markers no longer really hold. We start painting at 62, we embark on a new career at 47. Life does not stop, it reinvents itself.
In parallel, dazzling technological developments can however accelerate the feeling of disconnection. When you find yourself asking what “NPC” means or not understanding a feature on your smartphone, you can feel this little “shift”. It’s not serious. In short, you can feel “old” at 35 … and incredibly young at 70.
Everyone has their feelings, to each their tempo
And it may be there, the real lesson: there is not an age when you feel old. This feeling is personal, changing, sometimes passenger, often linked to the context more than to the figure on an identity card.
In other words, you can be 60 years old, run the Paris half-marathon, go to van across Europe or embark on a podcast. And you can be 25 years old, and already feel a form of nostalgia for the “good old days” before Tiktok. Age, finally, is in the head.
Aging is not a punishment, it is a chance. This is the proof that we are there, that we advance, that we learn, that we transform ourselves. SO “At what age do we really feel old?” »» Maybe is not the right question. And if we asked rather: when we decide to live fully, whatever the figure?
