Aging is a privilege that not everyone gets to experience. So if you live to be 90 years old, the wrinkles on your face should be worn proudly as a badge of honor and a sign that you’ve got plenty of stories to tell about your younger years. But while we don’t need to be scared of aging, it is a fact that some behaviors and experiences can make us look older faster than others.
Reddit users have recently been discussing things that can instantly age a person, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts down below. Enjoy scrolling through, as you stay hydrated and remember to apply that handy dandy SPF, and keep reading to find a conversation with Catherine Summers of Not Dressed As Lamb!
#1
Grief, nothing ages you like Grief
Image source: TheGreatGrappaApe, Ben White
#2
Stress.
Image source: gablamegla, Alexander Dummer
#3
War. I went from 21 to 31 in 6 months.
Image source: FirstTarget8418, Somchai Kongkamsri
#4
Lack of sleep
Image source: Yasmin947
#5
Children
Image source: Crackerpuppy
#6
Back pain.
You can’t move like a young person if your back hurts.
Image source: AdWonderful5920, Karolina Grabowska
#7
Stress. Grief. Trauma. Mental Illness. Losing a loved one way before their time at a young age (parent/sibling/close friend).
Image source: RoronoaZorro, Anna Shvets
#8
Bad plastic surgery.
Image source: lovehopemadness, Igor Starkov
#9
Chronic pain
Image source: Timely-Comedian-5367
#10
Bad genes – like it or not. Some people smoke and drink their faces off and still look vibrant and healthy. Others eat well and exercise and look tired and lifeless
Image source: Maleficent_Heat_6195, buregina
#11
Working with the general public. Bartender of 21 years and nothing has aged me more than all y’all idiots.
Image source: TimToMakeTheDonuts, Foo Visuals
#12
Smoking
Image source: Prestigious_Front384, cottonbro studio
#13
Fking cancer. Have watched my brother in law age 30 years in a month.
Image source: imapassenger1, Thirdman
#14
Making eye contact with their cursed portrait that has been aging in their stead for centuries.
Image source: nzdastardly
#15
I think something not talked about a lot is mindset. Like if someone views themselves as old and shouldn’t do this or that, they’re making aging faster for themselves.
Affirmations can help.
Image source: Amazing_Top_6530, Engin Akyurt
#16
Hatred, harboring bad/sour feelings.
Image source: showmeyournipplesplz, OSPAN ALI
#17
Staying in a relationship or marriage you’re not happy in. It’s soul draining and the instant it’s over, there’s more relief than grieving for the end of it.
Image source: StrangerDanger_013
#18
Too dark of a tan (fake or real).
Image source: LucyVialli, M k
#19
For people over 30, their hair style. I dont know why some people, especially women, develop a hair style and stick with it the rest of their lives.
Image source: PatrickMorris, Adam Winger
#20
Being president. Look at Obama’s hair in 2008 vs 2016!
Image source: falconfetus8, barackobama
#21
Dehydration. Sun.
Image source: beautifulfuckingmess, engin akyurt
#22
Starving yourself to lose weight. I look so much older in photos from my 20s than I do now at 45.
Image source: Mollysaurus, i yunmai
#23
Having a spouse that contributes nothing to your relationship and allows your family to slip further and further into debt without caring that you’re all only a couple of bills away from bankruptcy.
Image source: Xmenenslaver, RDNE Stock project
#24
Depression or general unhappiness in life
Image source: mageking1217
#25
Being homeless. It’ll make you mature right fast it will.
Image source: vasaryo
#26
Being the victim of a crime, and then having to spend the next two years of your life attending monthly hearings until a court date is decided. Watching the legal system not protect you when he violates restraining orders, gets a DUI and visibly deteriorates, coming to court dirtier and more unkempt each time. Losing friends because they like the offender better and just can’t see…
Image source: minionofjoy, Sandra Dempsey
#27
The way you dress
Image source: mint_lemxn, Burst
#28
The loss of a loved one.
Image source: St_Killian
#29
(Multiple) tooth loss
Image source: Successful_Ride6920
#30
CHILDREN. My boobs have aged 20 years.
Image source: StraightFail4895
#31
I just did 4 years in prison and that was f*****g stressful. I feel like I’ve aged a lot
Image source: andrewleecra, Matthew Ansley
#32
hair loss. Not me personally but I used to work with a guy who I swore was like 35, and he was 19.
Poor kid.
Image source: Kaiserhawk
#33
Stress, grief, childhood trauma. It can also ruin your life and life of the people around you.
Image source: Venom_Iam
#34
Weight loss sometimes adds way more wrinkles.
Image source: AnnTipathy
#35
For men, a moustache. If you look back at the 1980s, you have 25-30 year old men look like they’re in their 40s, and the same is happening again, now.
Women – too much makeup
Image source: eezgorriseadback
#36
I have been through war and i also lost my sister to a car accident, fair to say im 39 but i look 60.
Image source: Melancholic84
#37
Not choosing the cup of a carpenter
Image source: soldmyblood
#38
Kids. Kids instantly age people. I have proof of it. I had kids before my twin sister did. I looked 10 years older than her. Then she had kids and we evened out.
And yet the compelling narrative in the US is that SAHMs do nothing all day 🙄🙄🙄 yeah if that s**t ages you by 10 years, there’s definitely a lot of work and stress there.
Image source: bumblebeemath
#39
M**h and alcohol!
Image source: Sid15666
#40
Reminiscing about the show “Dinosaurs”
Image source: ShapeSuspicious7198
#41
Troubleshooting printer problems. I swear these devilish machines only exist to trigger me to smithereens.
Image source: Philitt, Andrea Piacquadio
#42
Putting two spaces after a period
Image source: coolhwhip777
#43
Finding out a band you listened to when they first came out is getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Image source: mtg-Moonkeeper, Lance Anderson
#44
Platinum blonde hair. I swear it enhances every single line you have in your face even if you’re younger.
Image source: bubblegumwitch23
#45
Buccal fat removal
Image source: arieljoc
Follow Us
