# Were you happier in your childhood or at present?



## femalepresident (Mar 20, 2015)

As my social anxiety really came in during middle school from reaching the chubby going through puberty stage before others I can definitely say I'm a lot happier now. People are kinder, less judgemental and my anxiety has lessened greatly. 
However I do feel more lonely now, when I was little I had more close friends who I could talk to - and the fact I didn't have problems which would upset me so much back then. 
Now I have more friends, but I feel I have a lot less meaningful friendships where in the holidays I get so lonely I just feel on the verge of depressed. 
What about you guys?


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## andy1984 (Aug 18, 2006)

childhood was awful. i was too confused to do anything, had no control. really really awful. though it was nice to not have any responsibilities and be semi-looked after.

now is ok, i know whats going on, i can do things if i want. i have some idea of who i am, how things work, etc. if i want to leave from something that is making me feel really bad, i can just leave. i think that's the best thing.


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## firestar (Jun 27, 2009)

I was miserable as a kid. Overweight, lonely, depressed. I didn't know who I was or why I was so different from everyone else. 

Now I've improved. I'm still alone but at least I know why. I'm not happy but I'm not as depressed as I was when I was younger.


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## Farideh (Nov 13, 2011)

Surprisingly, I was happy during my childhood even though I was chubby. I was that funny chubby friend and I was mentally strong. I was able to brush it off when other kids called me fat. I don't know how I did it, but I did it. I had friends because I was always happy. Now I'm the complete opposite. Whatever. I grew up and won't compare my attitude when I didn't know the mess I was up for. You learn and you grow. I didn't grow, but I did become aware of the world I live in. Yes.


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## gopherinferno (Apr 7, 2009)

Of course i was "happier" when i was younger. But i thought i was miserable. I didn't know what actual unhappiness was, so angst really wormed its way in. Couldn't really be helped. When i'm happy again, it'll be a lot more real. I will have earned that sh*t.


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## Jesuszilla (May 26, 2013)

I'm much happier in the present. Childhood wasn't bad when I was alone. But having no friends, no one to play with during recess, being teased, picked on, getting into fights blah blah blah you get where I'm going at with this.


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## Ape (Sep 27, 2014)

I'm happier now because of the freedom that my adulthood has afforded me, even if I have put myself in a sort of mental prison of my own making. And hey, I don't have evil relatives degrading and abusing me almost every day!


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## Genos (Dec 17, 2014)

it depends
like 8-15 was hell tbh
my happiest was before that [probably because that was before bipolar symptoms kicked in and the hellish downward spiral that came along with it]

i think ive slowly gotten better though, but it seems like every time i feel like i am it suddenly comes crashing down and i end up wanting to die moreso than ever


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## Lelouch Lamperouge (May 13, 2013)

The present! Life is good!


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## Mikie (Aug 6, 2015)

Childhood was amazing. Its not like it was perfect but i was a happy kid. Puberty came along and ruined my life. Havent been happy or hopeful in well over a decade.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Fangirl96 (Apr 13, 2015)

Kind of, but i wasn't happy. I just had other problems than i do now. Now i'm sad because of adult things, and back then i was sad because of bullies and parents fighting and stuff like that.


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## cool user name (Nov 17, 2014)

Felt like ive gone through many stages of ****, good ****, good etc. I think the steps im taking for self improvement are going to lead somewhere good though


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## odetoanoddity (Aug 5, 2015)

Happier in childhood. I'm an only child, but back then my friends and cousins would always come around to my place, so I never really felt alone. Even if I *was* alone, I'd be lost in my imagination - either writing, drawing or playing with my toys. Everything was much more carefree and fun. 

Now, with my SA, it impedes on dreams I would *like* to pursue. Although, I'd also say I've learned to be grateful and thus happy with what I have/had in my life so far.


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## lavanderxribbons (Jan 19, 2016)

Definitely happier now, I was heavily bullied at school for being ugly and bad at sports ect ect. I was a weird kid who didn't enjoy kid things, I never felt normal and I was always sad for no proper reason. I was never happy at school until my final year. Now I have more control over my life, I'm not forced to go to school with no privacy everyday to be picked on by students and teachers and I like myself better as a person (and as shallow as it sounds I'm not ugly anymore). I blame my childhood for a lot of my current problems unfortunately. But yeah, definitely happier now in comparison.


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## HannahG (Aug 31, 2010)

Before the age of around...8-ish I'd say I was much happier then. At first I though my SA kicked in later but the more I look back at the things I did or didn't do, I'm pretty sure my SA hit around age 8. I became really nervous. I was terrified to disobey my parents, teachers, etc (I was never abused or anything). I had a few friends in the neighbourhood that I played with at least once or twice a week and one best friend I saw almost every day.

My siblings always ignored me or teased me to the point I believed everything bad they ever said about me and it destroyed me confidence. School was good though. I got along well with people at school. School was always okay for me up through high school. My SA seemed to get worse in high school (just for the social events, clubs, etc) but then was okay for a bit then it got really bad in my mid twenties.

The past few years I've definitely had it rough. SA seems to take over everything and coupled with lack of sleep (thanks crappy shifts at work for that), my cousin trying to kill himself (and burned a house down in the process), my grandmother dying...and issues with some of my 'friends'... yeah I've definitely been more depressed the past couple years than i have ever been. It's really frustrating. 

I have at least though been doing a lot more creative pursuits lately though. Painting & attempting (sometimes feebly) to make sculptures etc are probably the only things that have kept me sane though. So there's that...


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## tehuti88 (Jun 19, 2005)

Childhood. I was shy and sensitive back then too, but at least I had friends who really "got" me, at least people thought I had worthy talents, and at least I still believed I had some place in the world. I was a big dreamer and wanted to share my dreams with the world.

In junior high (around age 12-13), all of that changed--my friends moved away/lost interest in me, my talents no longer meant anything, and I became invisible and unwanted. The world grew up and left me behind. My dreams grew smaller and smaller and I learned to keep them to myself. Now I am nothing and have only become more anxious and more worthless ever since.

I miss and envy that little girl who believed in herself and had such big dreams.  I feel like she wasn't even me.


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## Mammagamma (Dec 9, 2015)

I had two years of childhood which were the best years of my life. All the rest was worse than today.


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## Tiffiduliu (Jul 7, 2014)

I had my fair share of happy moments in childhood but I'd say, I like the present better.


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## LemonBones (Sep 25, 2015)

Nothing but abuse and emotional neglect when I needed it most in my childhood. It was a ****ing mess, hence a big reason why I'm a total **** up loser now.


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## Zosie92 (Jun 25, 2015)

I'm pretty sure I was miserable as a kid as well, but that's mostly because the memories that stand out are bad ones (cognitive bias and all that.)

In reality I was probably pretty happy. I had quite a few friends, did a lot of the things I wanted. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mike91 (Sep 23, 2012)

Childhood as back then i thought things would get better now i know they wont


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Idk. I guess I was happier as a child but the anxiety was just as bad as now. I wasn't depressed then, so that is a good thing.


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## Charmander (Sep 5, 2012)

My childhood was awesome. As sad as it sounds I wish I could just live a neverending loop of it. Being confident in myself made the world of difference to my life.


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## LydeaCharlotteGirl (Aug 27, 2013)

My childhood was also probably the least shy time of my life though not perfect, and doesn't relate very much to what I'm like now despite ironically feeling somewhat more confident again in recent years. It certainly went downhill after that in many ways.


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## soshisarang (Sep 8, 2015)

I was definitely happier as a child. I was oblivious to the problems in the world. I had lots of friends and even a best friend that I used to do everything with. We lived a very comfortable life because my dad had a really good job but then my parents divorced and things weren't so great.

Then things started to get worse after about the age of 12. Most of my teenage years were bad. I got really shy and anxious around this time. I was teased by the other kids and that really knocked my confidence. Most of my friends grew distant and i felt really lonely a lot of the time.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

Very early childhood. Happiness ended for me the first day I had to go to school. I was kind of excited about school before I went there. I don't know what I expected but that wasn't it.


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## Chelsalina (Oct 15, 2014)

I was happier in my childhood but I'm happier now than I was 13-16. I had a lot of friends in elementary and I didn't have to worry about societal pressures like wearing makeup, dressing nice, etc. It's like every kid could be androgynous and no one would care which I miss.


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## sarafinanickelbocker (May 16, 2010)

Childhood

I was unafraid and young people were unable to notice my oddness.


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## StephCurry (Jan 11, 2016)

My childhood sucked, and my last few year teen years have been worse (thus far).


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*Good one*

here's my initial reaction

I'll read all above later

ambiguous state of lost & lonely in childhood and right now

I loved school because I was occupied - plenty to think about.
no friends but living a TV life proposed as good. Developed some friends near end of school - invited to join in and smoke weed. My first friends. Carried over to university. Desperate to leave school to put parents behind.

Core of life with girlfriends, work, money, cars, home, holidays
all this dried up
~ 25, 30~ age. Rack & ruin. No surprise.

Very much the same state in my apartment since 2001. Just like I was in my bedroom in parents' 4 different houses. 100% alone. 31 jobs.

I feel in a standard life stage. Peak over

Undetermined retirement. Coping with rejection & loss

Yearning for economic changes or any other other type while I'm alive - war, plague, disease.. my death is welcome. Missing resources. ability to end like life: Ownership of car, firearms... control over life. When these disappear... 
no access to luxuries... money for holidays...

kinda wishing my peak times didn't occur. Living a basenote all life might have been more bearable. Each spike in employment, relationships are unpleasant to get through later. Earning money and having cars was key addiction;
ripped away. Bad luck


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## animeflower6084 (Apr 8, 2014)

Childhood was when I was truly happy. teen and present, not so great.


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## AHolivier (Aug 6, 2009)

.


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## Hazardblast (Jan 26, 2016)

I was happier as a kid cause i didnt care that i was alone "ignorance is bliss"


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## k_wifler (Sep 27, 2006)

I'm better now that I moved out of the house.
Bad people make me sick, literally, physically sick.
Now to feel good, I just have to find one good woman close to my age.... who shall it be?


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## Vein (Mar 14, 2015)

Happier but only because I felt a freedom of expression, my problems weren't in check though and I had little control/awareness at that time which was the issue (no one responsible protecting my conscience). I'm sad now because of lot of things, but mainly because I lost that special kind of sincerity, those most people have and unfortunately lose as they grow up.

I feel sad remembering my old self, and what I felt and how the world was, then.


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## lonerroom (May 16, 2015)

Its hard to say.


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## oopsiecoopsie (Jan 6, 2016)

I was happier before, and even then I felt sad a lot of the time, but it doesn't compare to how I am now. I took an OD last year and I would never have had thought I'd do such a thing.


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## Post_Punk_Proclivity (Oct 12, 2008)

Childhood for the pure and simple fact that there was so much wonder and mystery in everything-- the world seems like such a nice place to be.

As you get older sadly those innocent constructions begin to crumble down around you, and you pine for the simplicity of times past.


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## Kovu (Jun 18, 2013)

Childhood I think.


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## Moksha (Mar 24, 2013)

hesitation marks said:


> Childhood for the pure and simple fact that there was so much wonder and mystery in everything-- the world seems like such a nice place to be.
> 
> As you get older sadly those innocent constructions begin to crumble down around you, and you pine for the simplicity of times past.


Especially if you play the game of "being a good adult". Which it's best not to do. ;P


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## Maverick34 (Feb 18, 2013)

Happier during childhood by far. I've a long-time friend say he's happier today. He seemed happy bitd, but I guess he should be happier now as he has a beautiful wife & 2 healthy boys


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## Ghostly Presence (Feb 5, 2016)

I lacked self-awareness in my childhood so I was prone to bouts of occasional happiness. I was really unhappy around my family and in school but when left to my own devices I enjoyed doing certain things. I was happier in my childhood but I think that it's because as a child I felt every emotion more than I do now. I was also angrier and sadder. I'd choose the present time frame over my childhood as a happier time for me based on my current mindset despite it being objectively worse when judged from every angle. Everything about me as a person has just shifted to the point I don't associate myself with past versions of myself. They seem like different people. I loathe them. The memories from my childhood seem more like dreams than reality. Depression is what gave me my interest in music which is what I value the most, so based on that alone I choose the present. Depression can be just as valuable as happiness, even taking the form of happiness for me quite often. It's familiar and comfortable, it's preferable. 

I was never at a point in my life where I would define myself as happy overall.


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## nanamisama (Oct 3, 2015)

Happier in childhood by far. I don't even think I knew I was socially anxious back then, I was just quiet with very nice and accepting friends who never made me feel weird. Ever since I moved my anxiety has only worsened


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## Aribeth (Jan 14, 2012)

1000000x happier
literally didn't give a **** about anything


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## TryingMara (Mar 25, 2012)

Childhood. I was full of hope back then.


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