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The most popular tags used with middle age articles. Use this to zero in on a subtopic. For a list of all tags, see our index.
tagarticles
middle age328
aging135
mid-life crisis107
happiness107
baby boomers96
midlife crisis - man / male92
self-help82
health76
men71
positive psychology71

middle age

Start Here: Our Key Articles About middle age

What Do You Mean There Are Four, or Five, or Six Types of Midlife Crisis?

Greg's picture

Our research into midlife crisis has convinced us that there's no such thing.

No one thing, anyway. »more»

Midlife Career Change Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Wesley's picture

Your career choice impacts your quality of life, standard of living, personal identity, and much more. By the time you hit middle age, career changes are far from easy, but many people feel a mismatch with the career that they had selected earlier in life and want to at least explore the possibility of pursuing a new career. Are you one of these people? »more»

Is My Spouse Cheating Because Of A Midlife Crisis?

Greg's picture

The conventional wisdom is that midlife crises usually feature extramarital affairs.

But one may have little to do with the other.

Middle-aged people -- of either gender -- have affairs. But many have nothing to do with the usual midlife crisis. Rather, they are the result of placing low value on the relationship, and poor bonding with one's spouse. »more»

Women and Midlife Depression: Is Everything You 'Know' Wrong?

Greg's picture

Empty nests. Menopause. Midlife crisis. Those are some of the reasons midlife is supposed to cause depression in women.

But as with so much information about midlife, that is at best only part of the story. »more»

Are Male and Female Midlife Crises Different?

Greg's picture

While researching her book The Breaking Point: How Today's Women Are Navigating Midlife Crisis, Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger discovered that "women not only undergo bigger changes than men in middle age, but they also by some measures have a more positive attitude about their prospects in life."

One key source was "Turning Points In Adulthood," a chapter in the MacArthur Foundation's "How Healthy Are We? A National Study of Well-Being At Midlife." It shows that men and women are distinctly different in a measure of life fulfillment.

Researchers found that before 50, less women than men feel they have "fulfilled a special dream" in the last five years (24% vs 40%). But after 50, women's fulfillment goes up -- to 36% -- while men's falls to about 28%. »more»

The Good News About "Empty Nest Syndrome"

Greg's picture

Hundreds of thousands of families will soon see their youngest child off to college, and that means an outbreak of despondent mothers and fathers suffering from empty nest syndrome.

Or does it? »more»

Thinking About Changing Your Career? Do It Before 50!

Greg's picture

The Chicago Sun-Times series on midlife issues concluded with Career change rewarding -- until your early 40s. The key section: »more»

Experts: Middle Age is Depressing

Wesley's picture

According to a comprehensive study of data from 80 countries, researchers at Britain's Warwick University and America's Dartmouth College have confirmed what people in their forties have known for years, middle age is indeed truly miserable. Researchers discovered that "for both men and women the probability of depression peaks around 44 years of age. »more»

Goals – Learn the Important Difference between Should and Want

Deborah Hayes's picture

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman »more»

Anti-Aging: 10 Tips to Lose 10 Years

Wesley's picture

Who doesn't want to be ten years younger? Well, maybe a teenager doesn't. But once you are beyond your twenties, more and more of one's resources start being directed at recapturing youth or at least maintaining what we've got. »more»

Controlling Midlife Weight Gain: Some Ideas

Greg's picture

The website Eons reported recently that the top goal for people over 50 is weight loss.

That's a smart goal for reasons beyond aesthetics -- there are long term health problems associated with excess weight. »more»

Interview with Dr. Dan Mroczek on neuroticism, happiness and longevity

Wesley's picture

Most people want to live happy and live long. Can you have it all?

The good news: happiness and longevity seem to be positively correlated -- in other words, longer-lived people tend to be happier, and happier people tend to be long-lived. »more»

Use Technology As A Brain Crutch

Greg's picture

Do you have too many of those "now what was I doing?" moments? Can't remember that great idea you had just a moment ago?

On a recent MacBreak Weekly podcast, veteran radio / tv / tech guy Leo Laporte remarked:

"You know, it's actually encouraging for those of us, as we get older, because now ... technology is designed to take over where our brains leave off. I use 'Google-assisted memory' all the time. I don't remember anything, but I can find it fast."

When I heard that, I thought "there's a LifeTwo story in there -- covering the ways technology can aid less reliable middle-aged brains." Unfortunately, I then forgot about the idea for a few days ... proving the need for this article.* »more»

What to do about Midlife Depression

Wesley's picture

A few days ago we wrote about female midlife depression and its confusing relationship with female menopause. »more»

It's Not Too Late To Live Longer

Greg's picture

It's never to late to start extending your life. »more»

Our Most Recent Articles About middle age

What Do Procrastination, Snow White and Perceived Obsolescence Have in Common?

Deborah Hayes's picture

OK. You’ve taken the time to examine your life as it is today and discovered the small hidden joy within; the want not should of what you really want to do! »more»

7 Sure-Fire Ways to Prevent an Affair

JedDiamond's picture

Jed Diamond, Ph.D. has been a marriage and family counselor for the last 45 years. He is the author of 8 books, including Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, Male Menopause, The Irritable Male Syndrome, and Mr. Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome (May, 2010). »more»

Why Are You Doing This to Me?

hlesbrown's picture

That is the cry of the "innocent victim" . . . most often followed by, "After all I've done for you!" Does this sound at all familiar? »more»

10 Best Retirement Films of All Time

Wesley's picture

The Wall Street Journal just published their Best Retirement Films of All Time". What do you think of the list? »more»

"About Schmidt" (2000)

"Cocoon" (1985)

Reinventing Yourself (or, Learning How to Fly)

hlesbrown's picture

If you haven't yet noticed my attraction to silly things, let me now bring it to your attention. I discovered a long time ago that, very often, silly things contain far more wisdom than sensible things. It's one of the great ironies of our universe. Take, for example, that incredibly silly series of books by Douglas Adams that goes by the title The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There's enough silliness (and, consequently, wisdom) in those pages to last a person the better part of a lifetime. Take, for example, the excerpt from the Guide that appears in the third book of the trilogy (Life, The Universe, and Everything) under the heading "RECREATIONAL IMPOSSIBILITIES." According to Adams, the Guide says this about flying: "There is an art, . . . or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."* »more»

Goals – Learn the Important Difference between Should and Want

Deborah Hayes's picture

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. - Ellen Goodman »more»

No Pride, Just Prejudice

ctomshaw's picture

I think we can all agree that prejudice is a bad thing, right? I mean, no matter what political persuasion you claim as your own, no good comes from judging people based on ethnicity or religion or girth. »more»

There is always time to get it right for yourself.... Other people will respond better to you as well.

colettepdx's picture

I was born, as it turned out, a 2nd generation only child 50 years ago in suburban Los Angeles... raised on the beaches of So. Calif. with a single mother. She was wild - a mini skirt wearing, hard working, hard living distant and usually hostile figure. It is where I learned my independence. I came of age in the 70's bay area, drawn to rebellion and counter culture. »more»

Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year... Having More Fun"

Wesley's picture

There may be no more perfect book for the LifeTwo audience than Gretchen Rubin's new book "The Happiness Project". Rubin spent a year as a one person focus group testing every possible way to increase personal happiness. Part memoir and part "how to fix your life", "The Happiness Project" is a joy to read. »more»

What is the Goal of Old Age?

Lisa's picture

At midlife, some of us find ourselves in a crisis due in part to the feeling that we're living as we will when we're old--we do the same old things every day, looking at that same old face across the table, talking about the same old things, being annoyed in the same old way, and seeing our opportunities diminish slowly as our health problems increase. It's terrifying. »more»

Don't Call it a Midlife "Crisis"

Kitara R. Wilson's picture

By definition, according to the Penguin English Dictionary 2nd Edition sitting here on my desk, a crisis is "a time of acute difficulty or danger..." So if you break that down, to embrace the term "midlife crisis" really translates into "my life is in or is headed for acute difficulty or danger". »more»

Reconnect With You

Kitara R. Wilson's picture

The more I step into this place of being open about early midlife celebrations, the more women I've noticed coming forward with their stories of frustration and loss. And when I say "loss", what I'm hearing more and more is that they've lost sight of who they are and are frustrated about who they've become. »more»

Health Alert: Men at 40 Risk of Cardiac Death 1 in 8

Wesley's picture

One of the worst manifestations of cardiac disease is sudden death and according to a recent study it is far more prevalent than once thought.

Researchers said men at age 40 in the U.S. have a one-in-eight chance of suffering sudden cardiac death over the rest of their lives, a stark indication of the toll cardiovascular disease exacts on society. »more»

Parental role models and us

Lisa's picture

I'll cut right to the chase: I think my parents taught me that love is putting up with a lot of ill treatment and staying no matter what.

My own notion of love was that it would be like having a best friend and lover for the rest of my life, and we would have little problems but we'd adjust. »more»

Gen X Hits Middle Age

Greg's picture

Feeling old?

Many (Gen Xers) remember Bruce Springsteen's smash hit Dancing in the Dark, which in the mid-'80s was a staple of early MTV, MuchMusic, and Gen X high school dances. He turned 60 a few days ago. »more»