How do happy kids turn into miserable adults? Is there a "formula" of stimuli / experiences? Why not more reverse outcomes? Do they hide it as adults?

[DrPepper12]

[MisterWack]

Kids don’t have the weight of responsibilities on their shoulders and feel they can just be a kid.

Adults have taxes, relationships, bosses, need to put food on the table, etc.

I believe it is that simple. We need (as adults) to find a balance and be able to express our complex emotions in a meaningful way then find a coping mechanism that doesn’t hurt our health like how some people medicate with alcohol when they actually need therapy and stability in their personal lives.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

I'd say that happiness in childhood is a protection against later misery, not a total shield. A formula would simply be that life is cruel, some places, people and environments are ruthless. Without any context, it's also unknown how long this misery will last, it can last for 5 years and then later disappear, if so can we really talk about a miserable adulthood?

I don't strictly believe that stimuli creates misery, I believe in the combination of stimuli and perception of stimuli. Which is where childhood comes into play normally, providing a more balanced perception of stimuli.

[Nikki1989]

Some people don't have the life skills or the upbringing to cope with adulting. It just becomes overwhelming.

[exitseven]

I think that life is made up of contrasts. If a person has a happy childhood but has little structure or responsibility and just drifts through life and suddenly confronted with a job and other responsibilities they often cannot handle it and they are miserable.

[Likes2drive]

All the responsibility of being an adult changes things for us if we weren’t taught how to deal with it as we got older so we become miserable if not better prepared

[LiamJHayden]

The reality of having to work in order to eat probably plays some role.