Mid-life crisis. We’ve all heard of them, and some of us have actually experienced them. I have been doing some thinking on this subject, not because I am having a mid-life crisis. No. I am having SEVERAL mid-life crisis’s all at once. Good job – they will all be over at once!
Joking aside, many of the “mid-life” crisis’s that people experience can be directly attributed to the hormonal changes that begin to happen right around the age of 40. If you live to be 80, then that is certainly mid-life.
For a woman there are all the symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome, pre-menopausal symptoms, peri-menopausal symptoms and menopause symptoms – depending on where she is in life. It is also the time of her life when she may be battling a few extra pounds, low libido, the first really noticeable wrinkles, and then she turns around and sees her beautiful, slim, trim, and full-of-energy eighteen year old who is getting ready to go out with friends on Saturday night. Bam! Life just reached up and slapped her in the face.
She turns towards her husband – who is also 40-something and sees not the handsome young man she married, but an overweight couch potato who is snoozing while watching the news. What she may not realize is that he is in the beginning stages of his hormonal changes as well. His testosterone level is dropping – leaving him tired and sluggish, with low libido. He has worked hard all of his life and his adrenals are tired too – they just don’t want to work as well as they used to. And, to top it off, his sixteen year old son just beat him at an arm wrestling contest. All he sees when he looks at his wife and daughter is an old lady and a young honey. Bam! Life just reached up and slapped him in the face.
With the two of them both going through normal life changes at the same time, without knowing that there is help for the hormones, a nasty fight or break-up is possible, and in this day and age, probable. Why not educate yourself so that you can avoid some of the heartache attached to menopause and andropause. The road may still be bumpy, but at least the two of you won’t derail.