midlife crisis

封面引入（绝命毒师）：Breaking Bad is an American crime drama television series.It tells the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacherexperiencing midlife crisis, together with his former student Jesse Pinkman, turns to a life of crime, producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies.转入话题：midlife crisisWhat is a Midlife CrisisA midlife crisis is experienced between the ages of 40 and 60. It was first identifiedby 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.SymptomsMost seem to come through the process smoothly without making major lifechanges.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 such as:∙Unhappiness with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years.∙Boredom with people and things that may have been of interest to them before. ∙Feeling a need for adventure and change.∙Questioning the choices, they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before.∙Confusion about who they are and where they are going.∙Anger at their spouse and blame for feeling tied down.∙Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life.∙Doubt that they ever loved their spouse and resentment over the marriage.∙ A desire for a new and passionate, intimate relationship.Differences Between Male and Female Midlife Crisis:∙Men go through midlife crisis because they reach a certain age and realize that life is passing them by. They become afraid:1.Afraid of the changes that come with aging.2.Afraid of becoming ill.3.Afraid of becoming less attractive to the opposite sex.4.Afraid of not attaining goals they have set for themselves.5.Afraid of dying.women, on the other hand are thrust into midlife crisis because they reach a certain age and find they finally have the opportunity to do all the things in life they have put off doing while caring for her family.1. A woman’s children are grown and all of a sudden, she has the opportunity to doall those things she put off while being a mother.2.She and her husband have both worked hard, are now financially secure and sheviews this security as her opportunity to explore all those things she has put on the backburner.1.She goes through menopause, which means both biological and psychologicalchanges. The psychological changes a woman experiences at menopause can cause her to question how she has lived her life and whether she should make changes to the way she lives.Stages of Midlife Crisis:Male or female most go through the same stages during a midlife crisis:The stages of a midlife crisis are as follows:1. Accommodation: presenting ourselves as differentpeople in differentsituations,called personae.2. Separation: taking off the masks or personae we wearin different situations andassessing who we are underthe masks; rejecting your personae, even ifonlytemporarily; and feeling largely uncertain about whoyou are.3. Reintegration: feeling more certain of who you areand adopting moreappropriate personae.4. Individual: recognizing and integrating the conflictsthat exist within us, andachieving a balance between them.Some will process through these stages smoothly.Some will go back and forth between stages until they work their way through the crisis. Anyone who goes through a midlife crisis is experiencing an internal change that will have either a positive outcome or negative outcome. Any crisis is an opportunity for growth. If your spouse is a person who is able to look internally and use the changes in a healthy way you will both profit from his/her experience.CausesMost people who have a difficult time during midlife and go into crisis mode do so because of external factors. They may be experiencing stress in their life that makes the transition more difficult or they may have childhood issue that were never dealt with that come to the surface during this time. Some external factors that may cause this time in life to be problematic are:∙Debt:It is easier to accumulate debt due to the availability of credit cards and loans. We are bombarded by credit card companies and it is easy to find yourself with large balances owed. We live in a society where it is commonplace to be living above our means. Finding yourself middle aged, in debt and facing retirement can add stress to an already stressful time in life. A normal reaction would be to seek help from a debt management company or consolidate your loans. A person who is finding it difficult emotionally during midlife might find it easier to walk away from their family in order to rid himself of what he feels is the cause of all the debt.∙Significant Loss:The death of a parent or family member can cause grief, which is difficult enough to come to terms with, without having to also cope with the feelings of a midlife transition. Put the loss of a loved one with the feelings that accompany midlife and the whole process becomes bewildering and overwhelming.∙Avoidant Personality:If a person has a tendency to avoid conflict in their personal relationships, suffers from feelings of inadequacy, are emotionally distant and has low self – esteem they will find midlife transition harder to navigate. This personality type has a deep fear of feeling shame and rejection. Such feelings will keep them from seeking help should their emotions become overwhelming. More than likely, they will run from their problems instead of trying to find solutions to them. It’s this personality type that normal ends up in divorce court during midlife.Whether there are external factors that make the process more difficult or not, there is an internal process that is gone through. If a person lacks understanding of the process, he may find himself making irrational decisions he may later regret such as leaving a job, divorcing his spouse and throwing away the security that he built during the first part of his life.。