“When I’m 35...” |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2011 05:19 AM PST Forget the mid-life crisis - it's the thirties that are difficult, according to counseling service Relate. At one time, the mid-life crisis was reserved for those in their forties and fifties – it involved buying an expensive sports car or a Harley Davidson motorbike and taking a year off work either to volunteer in India or fulfill a life-long dream of heading a rock group. No, seriously, it is the term for what many people feel as an existential panic, a fear of no longer being in the prime of youth and of not leading the life you really want to be leading. But now, Relate says the mid-life crisis has been brought forward a decade - 35 is the most miserable age a man can be. (A quick look in the worlds of film and music seem to show this. 50 Cent is 35 – have you ever seen him smile?) The mid-thirtysomething is having a hard time of things, according to Relate. 'It's when life gets really hard,' Claire Tyler, CEO of Relate, told the British press. 'You're starting a family, pressure at work can be immense and increasingly money worries can be crippling. We cannot afford to sit back and watch this happen. The ensuing effects of relationship breakdown on society are huge, so it's really important that this age group has access to appropriate and relevant support, be that through friends and family or other methods such as counseling.' According to the poll carried out by the service, those in the 35-44 group were the least satisfied with their lot - a fifth of people in this age group said they were lonely (more than people aged over 65) or had suffered from depression. One in four said they did not have enough time for family or friends, and one in three believed they would have better relationships if they worked less. A change in work culture has been blamed for people worrying about their age even younger than before. The average age of chief executives was 59 a generation ago. It is now 48. British Prime Minister David Cameron is 43, and Ed Miliband, the new leader of the Labour Party, is just 40. Cary Cooper, professor of occupational psychology at Lancaster University, says he was not expecting these results. 'Traditionally the midlife crisis is associated with a man in his fifties, maybe unhappily married, who wants to be young again, so starts behaving young — buying a sports car and trading in their wife for a new model,' Cooper told the British press. 'So we did not go out to look at this younger group, but the research showed both men and women of this age are coming out the worst. They are the loneliest, striving in their career, working long hours, with little or no time to invest in relationships. I am not advocating some sort of French-style 35-hour week,' he adds. 'We need to work hard, but we need to be smarter. Technology means many people can work more flexibly and more productively. This message has not got through to a lot of men yet.' By Bex This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment