Midlife Crisis

This eBook takes a look at some of the possible causes and symptoms of a mid-life crisis. Although they can sometimes be a fearful and often painful experience, it can also be the catalyst for making positive changes.

What is a mid-life crisis?

Somewhere between the ages of 35-60 many people go through tremendous emotional life altering experiences. These are often the result of many complexities and can be linked to unresolved issues from the past and dissatisfaction with the present. Sometimes a mid-life crisis can be triggered by the regret over missing past opportunities, feeling stuck in a present situations and seeing fewer options in the future. These feeling are heightened by knowing that we live in a society that seems to worship being young.

From the time we are children and well into our 30's we are greatly influenced by the ideas that are passed down to us through our upbringing, education and religious beliefs. We follow a blueprint that has, for the most part, been drawn by those around us. This blueprint gave us an pattern of how we should think and live our lives. And, following these guidelines can be helpful up to a point. This blueprint included things like education, career, relationships and raising a family. Of course, there have always been those who subscribed to an unconventional lifestyle and who held little to no regard for a social blueprint. But, somewhere between the ages of 35-40 we sense that we are looking at the second half of our lives. We recognize the fact we're not young anymore. This awareness can trigger anxiety and an unsettled feelings that we've missed out on doing with our lives what we wanted to do. A feeling that we've lived our lives trying to fulfill the the expectations of ...

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...at if they are to have a brighter future they must take action.

However, for others it may be an attempt to escape anxiety and depression. They think that that the painful emotions will go away by changing life partners or careers.

Fearing The Future

Getting older can be a scary thing to many people. They sense that the things that kept them going in their earlier years like their career, raising children, physical appearance and health are quickly fading away. These things have been closely attached to their identity during their most productive years and they're very apprehensive about how to live without them. Therefore they fear the future and what it may hold.

Certain feelings of fear and confusion are normal in midlife. However, if they are creating an excessive amount of emotional turmoil it is advised that you speak with a counselor or therapist.