How to Handle Midlife Crisis?

Midlife crisis, the term conjures up images of a silver-haired guy dressing up like a 20-something year old and driving a Ferrari around town. But what exactly is it? Midlife crisis is defined as a period of transition of self-confidence and identity in middle-aged individuals. It is a psychological crisis resulting from events that highlight a person’s mortality, possible shortcoming of accomplishments as growing age. Typically noticeable in people aging from 45 to 64 years, it brings about the feeling of depression, anxiety and remorse, coupled with the desire to gain youthfulness and alter the current lifestyle.

As per studies, almost half of the men in their 40s and 50s admit splurging on a new car during this transitional period. In addition to that, several women also confess getting Botox or making other drastic changes to their appearance because of midlife crisis. Also, women have been observed to go through the crisis quite earlier than men, typical between 35 and 44 years of age.

Are you going through midlife crisis? Do you know how to handle it? Well, no worries since we are here to help you through this exhausting phase of your life. Here are some tips that will help you get through the midlife crisis.

#1. Understand Your Situation

Before you go about treating your situation of midlife crisis, it would be better for you to determine if that is precisely what you are, in fact, going through. Perhaps you would want to consult a therapist to make sure it isn’t something else. You might also be amused to learn that midlife crisis is different for men and women. While men typically feel the urge to make a drastic change to their life, women experience a drop in their motivation to pursue their career. That is why men go towards switching careers, moving to a new city and divorcing their spouse and women question themselves if their career is really important.

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#2. Talk To Someone

Undeniably, the best way to deal with midlife crisis symptoms is talking to someone you love. As we said before, midlife crisis is more of a psychological problem than a real issue, and what better way to calm your mind than talking to someone you are close to. Tell them what you are feeling and ask them about what you should do to not feel what you do. If not a friend or a family member, get in touch with a therapist, counselor or life coach who can help you.

#3. Audit Your Life

Feeling dissatisfied or disheartened by the way your life has turned out? Well, the situation may not be as bad as you are conceiving it to be. Midlife crisis can do that you. Before you go about leaving your partner, quitting your job or spending your life savings on something flashy, sit and storm your brain about the things that are working in your favor. Your situation may not be what you expected it would be but it cannot be all bad. Take time to reexamine your purpose of life and values before comparing yourself to others.

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#4. Set New Goals

Going through midlife crisis, you create huge aspirations and goals that are more superficial than they are realistic. You may have had some dreams that you haven’t realized but it may also not be possible for you to pursue them now. How often do you see a 45-year old going on to become an astronaut? However, there may be other dreams that you can fulfill at this point. Like if you wanted to write a book, it’s not too late for that. Rather than making a drastic change to your life, set new goals for your future and pursue them with great determination.

#5. Repose

Sometimes all you need to do to deal with midlife crisis is breathe. The feeling that you have wasted your life away may have taken your mind over but overthinking on the matter will only worsen your condition. If the situation is getting too stressful for you, then perhaps you can try some relaxing exercises. Taking up yoga or meditation are some good life changes you can make at this point as these will help you deal with the stress of midlife crisis and also help you stay healthy. What you are feeling at this point may even fade away if you take a breather to relax.

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#6. Spend Time With The People You Love

When you are going through midlife crisis, it is quite easy to turn to addictions like alcohol and drugs. You may think that these are helping you by making you fell less unworthy, but these can also take away your job and even the people that you love. Instead, we suggest you focus on spending quality time with the people you are close to. You may think that you haven’t earned anything in life, whereas these people, the relations that you have kept are actually your treasure. Adore them and take delight in having them in your life.

#7. Know The Best Is Yet To Come

Your life doesn’t end when you are 45 or 50 years old. You are only halfway there, that is why they call it the ‘midlife’ crisis. There is a thing called happiness curve which states that we are the happiest in the early years of our life, which starts to fade away in the early decades of adulthood, hitting bottom in the mid-40s. However, the happiness starts to rise after that, with several people reporting to be happiest in their old age. With age not only comes wisdom, but also emotional well-being and emotional stability which keeps drama out of your life and draws happiness.

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#8. Do Not Make Any Rash Decisions

The last thing we would like to suggest at this point is that you control your urges to make rash decisions in your midlife crisis. It is quite easy to get carried away and do something drastic. Just make sure that you do not indulge in something that you might regret later. Midlife crisis is only a phase of life that will pass away with time. The feelings will pass away but their repercussion will stay in the form of decisions that you make at this point.

These are some things that will help you deal with your midlife crisis. If somebody close to you is going through a similar situation, we suggest you support them with all your might through this tough time. What do you think is a good way to handle midlife crisis? How long does midlife crisis last? Have you or someone you know ever made a bad decision owing to midlife crisis? Tell us through your comments in the dedicated box below. We absolutely love it when you write to us.

(Feature Image Courtesy: Huffington post)