Essay On Midlife Crisis

Middle adulthood, commonly referred to as “mid-life,” is a normal development life stage. As adults, we go through many changes throughout our life, including physical, psychological, emotional and social changes. Regardless of age, change is inevitable. More than 25 percent of individuals over the age of 35 believe they have experienced a midlife crisis; however, research suggests that over half of these “crises” were no more than normal stressful life events.
Midlife crisis, described by many, is a time of turmoil and reflection in adult’s ages 39 through 50 brought on by anxiety and fear of growing old. While most individuals do experience some type of emotional and physical transition during this time, not all identify it as “mid-life crisis.” This period in our lives can cause us to reevaluate ourselves, purpose in life, and goals.
One of the largest research studies conducted on midlife, “Midlife in the United States Study,” studied 724 participants aged 28 to 78 years old. The study identified that one-fourth of the participants felt they had experienced a midlife crisis. However, of those between the ages of 40 through 53, only one-third felt they experienced one. The …show more content…
Roles change, expectations change, and life are always reevaluated as we progress. Instead of caring for our children in the young adult stage, we care for our parents. We begin to realize all the dreams we had in our 20’s we have not accomplished. We can elect to take on that new challenge to accomplish the goal set 20 years ago. We are more seasoned in life and judgment and begin to make decisions that are in our best interest instead of our family’s best interest, such as changing careers. It is also the time in which not only can we see the past, we are beginning to see the future and how little time we have left. The thought of getting old is scary for most of us; however, most will navigate this phase successfully and grow old