What is a midlife crisis

There is no clear definition of “midlife crisis” in the medical literature because middle age is neither clearly defined nor well understood ¹. The dictionary describes it as the period between youth and old age, a vague, undifferentiated status. The MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Successful Midlife Development says that midlife is perhaps the most ill-defined of any period in life ². According to Patricia Cohen ³ midlife is a relatively new construction, invented about 150 years ago. Using the definition of midlife as the middle of a person’s life, based on the average human life expectancy of 78.6 year in the US (2016 data), this is at age 39.3 for men and age 44.3 for women ⁴. The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund reported that the average life span of Filipino women is 66 years and of Filipino men 62 years. Theoretically, then, the midthirties and forties are the middle years of the Filipinos ⁵. Levinson’s ⁶ 40-year-old definition: ‘Middle age is usually regarded as a vague interim period, defined primarily in negative terms. One is no longer young and yet not quite old’.

This raises a number of questions including how to define midlife. Today on average, midlife is most commonly considered to be 40 to 60, which notably is the age period that Hall ⁷ referred to as senescence. In the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS) (http://midus.wisc.edu/), a national longitudinal study ⁸, participants were asked at what age midlife starts and ends. On average, adults between 24 and 75 estimated that midlife begins at the age of 44 and ends at 59 years of age ⁹. Given the high degree of variability within age periods, in terms of health, well-being, and functioning across multiple domains, chronological age may not be the best anchor for identifying what is midlife. Midlife may be better considered in terms of roles (e.g., mentor, parent), timing of life events, and life experience ¹⁰.

Carl Jung described the importance of balance and integration of different aspects (strengths and weaknesses) of the self, a process he called individuation. He saw midlife as a critical period (the afternoon of life) for linking earlier (the morning) and later (the evening) periods ¹¹. Erikson ¹² identified the main challenge for midlife as generativity, highlighting the importance of a linkage between those younger and older in the life course. These themes capture what experts call the pivotal nature of midlife in terms of negotiating and regulating growth and decline and integrating youth and old age, within individuals and across generations.

Despite the exalted view of midlife from earlier times, today midlife is widely associated with stress and considered a period marked by crisis ¹⁰. This may have derived from the popular writings about midlife in the 1960’s and 1970’s ¹³, which were based largely on clinical samples and therefore focused on the problems rather than the triumphs of those in middle age. This body of work led to negatively biased information about midlife that has not been substantiated in research with more representative populations ⁹. Many of the views of distress typically associated with midlife experiences such as the empty nest syndrome and the menopausal transition have been shown through research to be misrepresentations ¹⁴. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that stresses involving multiple role demands, or financial pressures may cluster in midlife or take a greater toll in middle age ¹⁵. Although job loss or divorce, for example, can occur during other age periods, those in midlife may experience greater stress due to age discrimination by employers or more limited opportunities for remarriage. Yet still today, there are many misconceptions about midlife, with the most common myth centered on the midlife crisis.

Facing the limitation of the time until death, men in particular are believed to pause from actively pursuing their goals and review their achievements, take stock of what they have and have not yet accomplished, at times taking drastic measures to fulfill their dreams.

Your midlife crisis, or transition, may occur around significant life events, such your youngest child moving away or finishing college. You may feel it when you’re entering a new decade or after the death of a parent. The emotions these questions and changes prompt may cause you discomfort, stress and confusion, and may lead you to feel that you are in a crisis. Despite this stress, you might experience this time as the beginning of a new and exciting stage of life.

Occasionally, midlife transitions might invoke depression, and it’s important you recognize these symptoms if you’re not feeling quite like yourself:

• Have your eating or sleeping habits changed, or are you feeling tired and run-down?
• Do you have feelings of pessimism or hopelessness?
• Do you have feelings of restlessness, anxiety or irritability?
• Are you feeling a loss of interest in activities that you once enjoyed, including sex and hobbies?
• Are you having thoughts of suicide or attempts at suicide?
• Do you have physical symptoms, such as headaches or other physical aches or pains, that don’t respond to treatment?

The Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS) (http://midus.wisc.edu/) survey shows that a crisis is not a typical midlife phenomenon. Certainly, some do have a crisis in midlife, with between 10 and 20% in the U.S. reporting one ¹⁶. In a recent study in the United Kingdom, the reports of crises were higher, in the 40 to 60% range, although the incidence was comparable across adulthood ¹⁷. Thus, about the same number say they experience crises at other points in life, so midlife is hardly special in that regard. Of those who say they have had a midlife crisis, about half say it involves inner turmoil or angst associated with getting older. For the rest, it is tied to events such as divorce, job loss, or health problems, which can occur at any age period ¹⁶. Those who do experience a crisis in midlife are usually those who have upheavals at other times in their lives, and these individuals seem to be driven more by a neurotic personality than advancing age ¹⁴.

Perhaps the misconceptions about midlife as a period of crisis help to explain why most adults would rather not be middle-aged. In Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS) (http://midus.wisc.edu/), the researchers asked those 40 to 60 years old (N = 3,021) what age they would most like to be ⁹ and on average they wished to be younger than their age (M = 33 years of age). This youthful yearning could be tied to stereotypes and biases about those over 40 and images often depicted in the media. Also there is the stark reality for those in the middle of life, who are often faced with juggling multiple responsibilities and dealing with emerging physical and cognitive signs of aging, and they may experience a good deal of stress trying to handle it all. Yet, midlife can also be a peak time in many areas, including earnings, position at work, leadership in the family, decision-making abilities, self-confidence, and contributions to the community ¹⁸.

Much of the work on well-being has emphasized that old age is a more positive period than many expect it to be. Midlife, in contrast, is portrayed as a quite negative and undesirable period. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the enormous consequences of poor functioning in midlife in terms of the toll it can take on others who interact with or depend on those in midlife. Depression and stress are at their height in the middle years, and this is particularly so for those with financial strain ¹⁹. The suicide rate is also high in the middle years relative to other age periods (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013) ²⁰. There is also evidence that suicide rates are increasing over time among those in midlife, although it is not clear if this represents a cohort effect tied to the babyboomers or is a trend that will continue across generations in midlife ²¹. It is important to address the well-being and mental health needs of those in midlife and to consider whether the patterns are universal or vary by socioeconomic status, cohort, race, or gender.

Much of the empirical work on adulthood has focused on comparing age groups at the two extremes, young and old. Yet, over the past 20 years the middle ages have become the subject of intense study by developmental researchers studying broader and more representative samples (such as MIDUS) and examining midlife in the context of other periods in the life course ⁹. Thus, a clearer picture of the nature of this period is emerging.

A lifespan developmental perspective ²² provides a fruitful framework for studying midlife as a period that is situated at the crossroads of growth and decline. In midlife, the variations in experiences and influences are extensive and depend in large part on the context. It is useful to consider the person in multiple contexts, in relation to the self at other points in time earlier and later, both proximal and distal, and in relation to others in the work place and within the family generations. A holistic, contextual, lifespan approach with a focus on culture, historical period, biology, social factors, environments, genetics, and psychological factors can enrich the theoretical and empirical work on the middle years. Three major tenets of a lifespan developmental perspective are highlighted as particularly relevant to midlife as a pivotal period in the life course: multidirectionality, variability/plasticity, and protection/resilience.

How to deal with midlife crisis

Midlife is a normal transition of adult development, if you or a loved one believes that you are engaging in out-of-character behavior or making sudden changes to major life areas, such as work or relationships, it can be helpful to seek the support of a professional.

Activities that may help with midlife transition include:

• Staying active. Go for daily walks and get some fresh air.
• Staying social. Stay engaged with friends and family.
• Meditation. Take a yoga course, or learn how to meditate to clear your mind.

References

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