"I'm too old for this shit."
A friend of mine who is a psychologist has been hearing this phrase from Vietnam vets since the mid-1970s. What on earth could make a 21-year-old say, with out a trace of irony, he's too old to deal?
Helplessness, despair, no conceivable way out, troubles that seem too big to carry.
Another friend of mine, who spent the last few years working through some seriously bad (read: abusive) relationships, recently told me that she feels empty--like a soccer mom whose kids have all grown up and left her pointless. She's all of 28.
When I was a teen, I was frustrated by a host of things, large and small, that I had very little control over and could conceive of no way to change, prior to moving out and getting my own life. So yeah, maybe some teens feel despairing, exhausted, and spent over things that to anyone with their own checking account seem trivial. But on the other hand, they haven't got much in the way of power to change. (Or are too afraid--but that's another node).
I used to feel very, very old (I was of the 'don't-know-the-trouble-i've-seen' variety). I just turned 31, and I've never felt younger in my life. Age is a condition of the soul.