While research by the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in the US says that middle people of all genders and backgrounds are most prone to depression, Midlife specialists Overton Smith say that it is still the high-flying male executive between the age of 38 and 50 who is most likely to have a midlife crisis.
The research sites family issues and sexuality as possible sources for this unhappiness.
“Midlife depression and midlife crisis are connected, but are not the same thing,” says Bernie Muir, director of Overton Smith. “Some of our clients are suffering from depression, but the majority are not. Most high achieving men have conformed to their families wishes of which school they go to, which university they attend, and what career they should follow, and by their forties, they feel completely constricted. These high-flying types are driven men, and often there is a serious underlying issue such as a dysfunctional relationship with an overbearing parent, as well as other fundamental issues such as ones of sexuality many men are still pressured into the traditional family life, and we see many men who have issues with their sexuality which causes them great unhappiness.”
Overton Smith claim that as many as 75% of senior executives and professionals are at risk of having a crisis in their midlife period, although very few “midlife” men will actually admit to having a problem.
“This is the reason why there has never been any official research into this subject as men who are undergoing a crisis are notoriously bad at recognizing the condition,” says Helen Moore, director of Overton Smith. “We find that it’s often wives who approach us first, to tell us that their husbands are behaving strangely. Unfortunately, ‘midlife crisis men’ are often portrayed as having fun by buying a sports car and having affairs with young women, but the reality is that men are deeply unhappy and out of control of their once ordered lives.”
Overton Smith offers men and women a specialist midlife consultancy service. They assist them through their ‘crisis’ and help them to minimise the ‘fall out’ that may occur from taking ill thought-out and precipitous decisions.