MID-LIFE CRISIS

 

When I think of someone having a mid-life crisis, I think about both males and females having affairs with younger people even though they are married to someone else.  I also think about the so-called “straight” individual all their lives up to a certain age, all of a sudden “going wild".  This age might be someone who is in their 40’s or 50’s who then suddenly gets this “urge” to do something before it’s too late or before they get too old.

But, what is a mid-life crisis really?

According to Cathy Meyer, a writer for About.com,

A midlife crisis is experienced between the ages of 40 and 60. It was first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung and is a normal part of the maturing process. Most people will experience some form of emotional transition during that time of life. A transition that might cause them to take stock in where they are in life and make some needed adjustments to the way they live their life. Most seem to come through the process smoothly without making major life changes.

For some, a midlife crisis is more complicated. It can be an uncomfortable time emotionally which can lead to depression and the need for psychotherapy. Those who have a hard time with this transitional stage might experience a range of feelings…
 

But, according to LiveScience staff writer, Robin Dixon,

“…the idea that midlife crises are common is a myth, experts say.  "It makes for good novels or good movies, but it is not really accurate," said psychologist Margie Lachman of Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

"There is no specific time in life that predisposes you to crisis," said Alexandra Freund, a life-span researcher at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

"There can be times when things crystallize as very problematic, a very deep disturbance in your life," Freund told Live Science. "People experience these types of crises, but they are not at all related to age."

Instead, Lachman said, crises are usually spurred by some event that can happen at most any age, such as a career setback, the death of a friend or relative, or an illness.

Epidemiologists have found no spike in negative events – such as career disillusionment – in middle age, Freund explained.

So if the revitalized libido and sudden hankerings for sports cars are purely the stuff of Hollywood, then what does happen to a person during these years?

[7 Ways the Mind and Body Change With Age]

Apparently and if you believe, it is not just humans who have these aging issues:

 “The midlife crisis is real,” said Dr. Andrew Oswald, co-author of the study of 500 chimpanzees and orangutans published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Great apes go through it also, so it is inescapable for the average person.”

If we do believe in people having these mid-life issues and they happen between 40 and 60 years old, do they then just fade away at the age of 60?

Well, maybe they do in America but not in Japan…  Reported on 11-18-12 in JAPAN TODAY,

TOKYO —

 

The number of elderly criminals being caught by Japanese police has rocketed, the justice ministry says, with pensioners committing almost 50 times more assaults than two decades ago.
The number of criminals aged 65 or older booked by police in 2011 increased by 475 from the previous year to 48,637, more than six times as many as 20 years ago, the ministry said in its latest crime white paper.

Most elderly crimes were shoplifting or theft, but violent crimes were also on the rise, the ministry said.

A significant increase was seen in the rates of violent crime committed by the elderly, with 49.5 times more assaults than in 1992 and 8.7 times more bookings for bodily injury, the white paper said.

In one more extreme example, local media reported in April that a 97-year-old man with a walking aid was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly attacked an 84-year-old woman with a Japanese sword in central Japan.

If retirement is on your mind, my suggestion, in case you were wondering, is do not move to Japan.