The reasons for the “mid-career crisis” are not well understood.
And Elliot Jaques, the psychoanalyst who coined the phrase “midlife crisis” back in 1965, pointed not to middle-aged patients having extramarital affairs but to dramatic shifts in the creative lives of artists from Michelangelo to Gauguin, who felt unfulfilled by their previous work. A 1996 article based on a survey of more than 5,000 British employees found that job satisfaction also took the form of a gently curving U, although the nadir came earlier, around age 39. The data on life satisfaction is consistent with earlier research specific to work. The curve is gentle but significant: The average contentment gap between age 20 and about 45 is comparable to the drop in life satisfaction associated with being fired or getting a divorce. And it persists when we correct for other variables, such as parenthood. The pattern is robust around the world, affecting both men and women. In 2008 the economists David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald found that self-reported life satisfaction takes the form of a gently curving U, beginning high in youth, bottoming out in our mid-40s, and then recovering as we get older. An abundance of recent research confirms that middle age is, on average, the most difficult time of life. You may have heard the same from mentors or peers.
When I shared my plight with friends, they responded with jokes, but also with similar stories of burnout, stasis, and regret in the midst of what seemed like success. I quickly discovered that I was not alone.
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