Midlife transition
A reappraisal, often in the 40s or 50s, of work, relationships and meaning, prompted by mortality, children leaving, a career plateau, or achievement that didn't satisfy. The dramatic crisis is a minority experience.
What drives it
The first half of life builds an identity and a position; the transition asks whether those still serve the person. Jung saw it as the turn towards individuation.
How it shows
Work
A successful executive loses drive, talks of "something more meaningful", takes up endurance sport, wants to leave or start again; or doubles down on status. Hesitates over the next promotion. Mentoring becomes more appealing.
Relationships
Affairs, separation, or deliberate reinvestment in the marriage; a partner saying "you've changed"; new friendships; re-examining old choices.
Self
Achievements feel hollow; you count the years left; one question keeps returning: is this it?
What tells it apart
Major depression: Depression brings pervasive low mood, loss of pleasure and changes in sleep and appetite across life; midlife reappraisal can be energised and selective, unhappy with one area and drawn towards another.
Bipolar disorder and hypomania: Sudden reinvention with little sleep, spending sprees and grand plans may be hypomania rather than reappraisal.
Identity moratorium: Moratorium can happen at any age; midlife transition is specifically the reopening of a settled identity in light of time running out.
A test
Ask what specifically feels wrong and what they are drawn towards; a focused reappraisal points to transition, global flatness points to depression.
Questions to carry
- When they say something feels wrong, how specific is it, and what are they drawn toward?
- Which achievement did I expect to satisfy me, and what did I feel once I had it?
How strong the research is
mixed. A universal midlife crisis is not supported by large surveys; reappraisal is common, and the evidence for a U-shaped midlife dip in life satisfaction is disputed.
Where it comes from
Elliott Jaques, 1965 (coined 'midlife crisis'); Daniel Levinson, 1978; Carl Jung earlier on the second half of life
Sources
- Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society (1950)
- Irvin D. Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy (1980)