Thursday, August 29, 2013

A Look At Female Midlife Crisis

By Amanda Baird


People tend to ridicule mid-life crisis, with most of them thinking it is a male domain. The truth is that it is not something that affects men only, and it is only considered a truism until one actually experiences it. While it is referred to as mid-life crisis, it can actually happen to anyone irrespective of gender or how old they are. Here is a look at female midlife crisis and what causes it.

This predicament for many women might not be as dramatic as they would expect. The less severe signs include boredom, feelings of worthlessness, lack of meaning and anxiety. Other symptoms include constantly changing a jobs or a partner, excessive drinking, obsessive shopping, while never actually getting the satisfaction they are looking to get. It is likely to be triggered by a serious illness, empty nest syndrome, loss of parents, redundancy or just appear out of nowhere.

The lingering question to ask is why it happens and the deeply-rooted factors causing many women aged between 35 to 55 to experience a frightening, long and isolating change. According to most psychoanalysts, the mid-life crisis is more of a physiological experience than a chronological event.

It is often during midlife that women figure out life may not be as easy as it may seem. They realize that it is possible for bad things to happen to good individuals. Actually, this can be liberating despite it sounding somehow grim, since it can stimulate them to quit floating. It can force women to carefully consider the choices they make, the impact these choices have on other people, and the plans they have for the remainder of their lives.

The modern world is quite competitive, materialistic and harsh. It worships money, perfection, celebrity and material possessions; hence people must always be on toes in order to survive. This is especially hard for women since they are always under lots of pressure to look attractive and young. The world measures them on a basis of looks as opposed to personality.

A mid-life crisis can somewhat be destructive and is undeniably painful, but can also be an important wake up call, especially for women in general. According to studies, the biggest differences in attitudes between women and men going through mid-age is that in the case of women, they are twice likely to have hope about their future. When women are faced with midlife barriers; whether empty nests, illness or divorce, the transformation these hurdles will trigger are in most cases surprisingly positive.

As women drop the facade needed to get them through the first stages of life, they grow less concerned with pleasing others and more inclined to take risks. Many ladies are brought up to put the needs of others over their own. Hence, it is not surprising that many of them reach a certain point whereby they have a feeling that they no longer know whom they are.

There is lack of sufficient evidence on the spread of female midlife crisis. Anecdotal evidence however suggests that women are now more prone to it or simply are willing to take it head on.




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