What is a Midlife Crisis? Dealing with a Midlife Crisis
Midlife crisis can be explained as the totality of physical and psychological problems that occur when developmental situations begin to threaten a person's social support and internal resources .
This situation, which is usually seen between the ages of 40 and 60, occurs in the middle of life when a person evaluates their life and faces their mortality. Midlife crisis is a serious syndrome for some people that affects their lives, relationships and careers 3 .
Elliot Jacques, in his work “Death and the Midlife Crisis”, has placed many concepts related to the midlife crisis in psychological theory, psychoanalytic thought and general culture.
This theory was developed by analyzing the working lives of many artists. This theory reveals that there is a very obvious development in artists when they reach middle age. Artists turn from a happy, optimistic view of life to a view that Jacques calls sculptural 6 .
According to Jacques, the main reason for this change is the emergence of the perception and consciousness of death. This emergence is reflected in the souls and works of the artists. The works become deeper, more meaningful and more realistic.
A midlife crisis can affect a person's self-perception and self-confidence and can cause changes in mood, behavior, emotions, career, and relationships. All of these changes occur in order to cope with the midlife crisis.
Aging is thought to lead to depression, anxiety and regret, and a midlife crisis is a process in which people struggle to accept the fact that half of their lives are over, while still feeling young again.
However, the emotional turmoil that some people experience in middle age does not always lead to major life changes that include a desire to be young again. In fact, a midlife crisis is not always negative, and can sometimes be a positive process .
Contrary to popular belief, there is no gender specific midlife crisis. Both men and women can experience a midlife crisis.
According to some experts, midlife crisis is a social construct and since there is a belief that people will enter this crisis in their 40s, this causes some people to say that they have a midlife crisis during unhappy periods of life.
Not everyone experiences a midlife crisis. According to research on this subject, midlife crises are not seen or experienced in many parts of the world.
According to the results of a study conducted in the United States to determine how many people experience a midlife crisis, it was determined that approximately 26% of the participants experienced a midlife crisis .
Most people surveyed reported that this crisis occurred before the age of 40 or after the age of 50. Since midlife crises are generally thought to occur around the age of 45, it remains unclear whether these crises are midlife crises.
Elliot Jacques was in his late 40s when he coined the term midlife crisis and was himself reaching certain awarenesses about mortality. According to Jacques, this crisis process leads to feelings such as depression, loss and pain in people. It is also thought that this process generally includes a loss of creativity and confidence .
Age-related problems often begin when a person realizes their own mortality and age restrictions. Most people see youth as the most desirable thing, and almost all areas in the world work on anti-aging and impose the idea that youth must be preserved at all costs 4 .
For many people, middle age is a time when relationships and roles change; some people begin to care for their aging parents in middle age, while others lose their parents in middle age. These situations can make people feel like they are growing up too fast.
Aging brings about feelings such as depression, regret, unhappiness, anxiety and fear of death. At this point, midlife crisis is seen as a stage that helps some people feel young again while struggling to accept the fact that half of their life is over 3 .
In middle age, people begin to experience periods of physical discomfort and declines in physical abilities. The decline in attractiveness, decreased sexual desire, relationship changes, and income decline that are present in youth are also seen in middle age 4 .