The general perception is that a large number of "middle-aged" people get depressed and feel the need to spice up their lives. Is this belief a fact or a myth?
From buying flashy sports cars to, occasionally, even flashier women, is probably an outdated myth, according to current scientific thinking. If anything, these days many people are feeling more fulfilled in their middle years than at any other time in their lives.
Perhaps, before proceeding further in our assessment of the true situation, we need to define what age do we regard as "mid-life?"
The term "mid-life crisis" was first used some 40 years ago by psychologist Elliot Jacques. He argued that people's quality of life generally declines after the age of 35. Of course, we have to take into account the fact that at the time, the average lifespan was about 70 years. Jacques suggested that it was only to be expected that at around this time of life, people would experience extreme reactions to their looming mortality.
Psychologist Carlo Strenger of Israel's Tel Aviv University disagrees. He says that's no longer true, and that studies show mid-life is frequently one of the happiest periods of people's lives.
Strenger told LiveScience, "At this point we have surveys of around 1,500 [middle-aged] people. Most of them actually say that they are better off and happier and more balanced than they were when they were 20 years younger. It's quite surprising".
Until now, the research has been confined to Western cultures but Strenger thinks the same trends, as well as similar stereotypes, may apply to other societies.He says that the common perception of what mid-life is supposed to be like are stuck in the past, when life-expectancy was lower and people's health, especially in later years, was much worse. In those years there was also less emphasis on education and self-awareness.
"People are so used to thinking of mid-life as basically a period of loss that it often does become a self-fulfilling prophecy", he said. "But some people, you really see that they begin to blossom, they begin to be more fruitful. They do things on a larger scale".
Now, in the second decade of the 21st century, people in their 40s and 50s have matured, learned to take some of life's problems in their stride and learned more about themselves. They are uniquely poised to take advantage of the next phase of their lives..
Strenger adds:
When you are 50, statistically you have as many adult years ahead of you as you have behind you. It really takes time to internalize what that really means. It would mean that this whole lifetime that you have behind you, you have ahead of you, and the question is what you want to do with it.
Give yourself the chance to truly reassess your choices and to see how you can now use your self-knowledge and live a much more meaningful life than you've lived before. Mid-life can be the moment where you can truly realize your dreams because you know yourself much better.
The fact is that this may be the time for many people to finally tackle projects or dreams that they have kept putting off. They might have a better chance of success because now their choices will be based on half-a-lifetime of knowledge and experience, not simply youthful blind ambition.
What do YOU think? Is mid life crisis a fact or myth for you?
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