Midlife Crisis, Its Causes and Misconceptions - Essay Example

Midlife Crisis al Affiliation Midlife Crisis Midlife Stage According to Martin and Prosen (1972), midlife is one of the important stages in human development. Clay (2003) describes midlife as falling between the years 30 and 70, with the ages 40 to 60 at the core. This stage of human development is least discussed. There are three adult stages and they include alloplastic (active mastery), autoplastic (passive mastery), and omniplastic mastery. Midlife (midlife is also referred to as mature years) is found within the autoplastic stage. The stage is characterized by the individual’s ability to accommodate the outer side world and dominion over the self. The thoughts of the person start to reserve for more action, the philosophic point of view starts to temper the drives for autonomy and achievement, and experience is substituted with exploration (Martin and Prosen, 1972). The knowledge gained and the outcomes of the experience are utilized in a discriminatory manner. They substitute the young adult’s pride with this energy and forcefulness. It is important to note that majority of the researchers emphasize on adolescence, old age and childhood; the result has been invalidated arguments and faulty knowledge of the midlife stage. Thus, most of the people have the wrong impression about what really occurs in midlife (Clay, 2003). In other words, there is no better understanding of the midlife stage because it gets less attention by the researchers and the result has been poor judgment and wrong impression of the stage. Midlife stage is an important stage in human development and one of the characteristic features of this stage is midlife crisis; a better understanding of the midlife stage can alleviate problems associated with it such as midlife crisis. Midlife Crisis The ages between 40 and 50 years have been described by developmental psychologists as a time when majority of the adults undergo midlife crisis. Midlife crisis is defined as a stressful phase when the adults reevaluate and review their lives. The feeling that life does not have a purpose or a meaning instigates the crisis. There are also suggestions that another cause of midlife crisis is the people’s realization or awareness that they are getting older and the end of life is much nearer. Majority of the Americans think that most of the adults undergo midlife crisis. However, research done tends differ with this notion and indicates that less than 10% of the adults experience psychological crises associated with aging or their age. There is evidence that most of the middle-aged adults use most of their time reassessing and reflecting on their lives. However, in majority of the cases, self-reflection rarely leads to psychological distress (midlife crisis). Forty-six is the average age in which midlife crisis begins. Midlife crisis lasts for three to ten years in men and two to five years in women (Franzoi, 2009). Causes of Midlife Crisis The causes of midlife crisis offer a foundation to a better understanding of midlife crisis. Both men and women are vulnerable to midlife crisis but what triggers or prompts the crisis differs in each gender. For women, midlife crisis tends to begin from family problems, family events, or the understanding that they have failed to accomplish their goals or standards as parents. For men, midlife crisis tends to stem from career or work issues, and women’s turmoil (it is mostly motivated by introspection). New insights such as therapy, reflection, or religion are the main components associated with the genesis of midlife crisis in women. Most of the men begin to feel anxious concerning their financial security “as they begin to look seriously at their retirement savings, especially if they fall short of their own financial goals for this period of life” (Brogan, 2009, p1). The sudden feeling of loss of the major set beliefs can leave most of the women and men stumbling as they struggle to test out various life experiences in an attempt to validate their life values. The symptoms of midlife crisis include sudden changes in the physical appearance (having a provocative wardrobe), purchasing unnecessarily very expensive items (such as beach houses or cars), becoming more obsessed with physical fitness, getting a tattoo, and relationship issues. The relationship issues or problems include more socialization with single individuals and extramarital relationships with younger partners (Brogan, 2009). Misconceptions about Midlife Crisis There are misconceptions about midlife or in other words, most people view midlife crisis as a myth. This has led to a difficult understanding of what midlife crisis is all about. Bolton and Warwick (2004) offer an example of a famous misconception about midlife crisis in men (most men usually experience midlife crisis in middle adulthood). In this stage, their personalities appear to be changing at an instance and they suddenly retreat in the earlier years of old age. There is no basis for this type of belief. Men do not experience any form of crisis related to a certain age period. The only thing that happens is the re-evaluation of their goals and priorities that generally occurs during these years. In other words, midlife crisis is not brought about by the aging process (Bolton and Warwick, 2004). The things that can lead to the occurrence of midlife crisis are sudden and drastic life-changing events like the loss of employment or the demise of a loved one. Because men at this stage have the time, the money, and the tendency to indulge themselves into new hobbies or purchasing expensive items, this is not linked with a crisis. Instead, the trend is regarded as a productive time of mental well-being (Bolton and Warwick, 2004). Others such as Hoose (1985) argue that much of the information found concerning the middle age is in terms of the problems faced by this age. Midlife individuals are always described as experiencing issues with their marriage life, being scared of dying, being anxious about aging, and feeling discouraged with their careers. The term midlife crisis has been improperly used and most of the people (including the middle-aged adults) have severe misconceptions concerning this stage of human development. This resulted into unnecessary anxiety and concern (Hoose, 1985). Facts about Midlife Crisis According To Researchers In order to have a better understanding of midlife crisis, some researchers have turned the misconceptions into facts through the researches they have done. This is an attempt to disapprove the myths associated with midlife crisis. Clay (2003) states that young adults undergo day-to-day stressors (such as work deadlines and fights with a partner or a spouse) more often, and the midlife adults undergo more day-to-day stressors; this is because of the many activities they are supposed to do at one time. Gender differences also exist; women tend to carry more of the stressors (crossover stressors such as concurrent demands from various domains such as family and work) than men do. Thus, women show elevated levels of suffering (Clay, 2003). Midlife individuals with lower educational levels report similar number of stressors like those of the higher educational status; however, according to them, the stressors are more adverse. It is important to note that day-to-day stressors do not always lead to midlife crisis. These stressors can have a positive impact on the midlife individual. The main reason for the presence of these stressors is to enable these individuals to gain more control of their lives than before and in their future life. Meeting the challenge is the main thing talked about when individuals define these stressors (Clay, 2003). The challenges of midlife are not met by everyone equally. For instance, “there are factors that can put certain men at risk of the kind of distress that used to be thought an almost inevitable part of male midlife” (Clay, 2003, p1). Some men are more susceptible than others are; it is important for one to understand the particular situations that make certain men more susceptible. Gender expansion is associated with the men’s vulnerability and it happens when women become assertive and men happen to be more nurturing at midlife. At this stage, some men see their mothers as domineering and strong and their fathers as ineffectual and weak. Thus, they suffer when they experience this change. They develop fanciful and unconscious conceptions “that they will end up like their father and their wives like their wives” (Clay, 2003, p1). The resultant effect is psychological distress. In conclusion, midlife crisis is a concept that has not been understood fully both the developmental psychologists and those perceived to be affected by it. This is because there are numerous misconceptions and rumors concerning the topic of midlife crisis. The other reason is that the midlife stage has received small attention from the researchers. Thus, the information found is very small such that it cannot make a valid claim about midlife crisis. However, some researchers have attempted to differentiate the facts from misconceptions about midlife crisis. It is important to note that a better understanding of midlife stage can assist in knowing what ‘midlife crisis’ entails. This is the only way that problems associated with midlife crisis can be alleviated. References Bolton, L. & Warwick, L. L. (2004). The everything psychology book: Explore the human psyche and understand why we do things we do. Avon, MA: Everything Book. Brogan, H. K. (2009). Are you having a midlife crisis? Retrieved from http://www.iecounseling.com/uploads/Tools_Article_F08.pdf Clay, R. A. (2003). Researchers replace midlife myths with facts: Job changes and stress management can positively affect midlife health. American Psychological Association, 34(4). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr03/researchers.aspx Franzoi, S. L. (2009). Psychology: A discovery experience. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Hoose, W. H. V. (1985). Midlife myths and realities. Atlanta, GA: Humanics Publishing Group. Martin, R. & Prosen, H. (1972). Mid-life crisis: Growth or stagnation. Canadian Family Physician, 68-70. Read More