Midlife and Depression

This just in from a BBC report today: life may begin at 40, but international research suggests that 44 is the age at which we are most vulnerable to depression.

 “Data analysis on two million people from 80 countries found a remarkably consistent pattern around the world. The risk of depression was lowest in younger and older people, with the middle-aged years associated with the highest risk for both men and women. The only country which recorded a significant gender difference was the U.S., where unhappiness reached a peak around the age of 40 for women, and 50 for men.”

These finding of a peak risk for depression in midlife were consistent around the globe, and in all types of people. Researcher Professor Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, said: “It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children.”

The real mystery is why midlife is such a universally vulnerable time.

Researcher Oswald states: ”One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations. Another possibility is that a kind of comparison process is at work in which people have seen similar-aged peers die and value more their own remaining years. Perhaps people somehow learn to count their blessings.” 

There you go! What have I been saying about midlife for months now! It’s the pits, but then it gets lots better in your 50’s and 60’s. You’ve cleared up all your unfinished business, and you’re now ready to continue on with a brand new perspective on why you are here, and what you need to accomplish before you die.

The BBC report says that this dip in mental health comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year. Only in our 50’s do most of us emerge from this low period.

So ain’t it grand to be normal… of course,

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.