A Basic Exploration of Female Midlife Crisis and

the Various Forms it May Take

Jacob Hammonds
University of North Texas
To understand female midlife crisis it is important to clarify the terms midlife and crisis. Midlife
in this paper will be understood as a time in one's life between their forties and sixties. The types of
crisis one can experience midlife are varied, and some people are able to avoid crisis at all. There are
shared experiences among women midlife and common shifts in body, mind, and attitude that occur
midlife. This includes menopause, empty nesting, unresolved oedipal conflicts with children, and
others which will be expanded on throughout this paper. My goal is to touch base on these common
issues women experience, the ways in which women choose to resolve those conflicts, and if female
midlife crisis is a universal trait among all women.
Across all genders midlife crisis can be caused by one failing to realize their potential. In fact
midlife crisis can be caused by a lack of mastery of earlier life stages. This can mean different things to
different people. A common cause of distress is lack of fulfillment from ones career. Low income
women experience higher rates of crisis due to general issues of poverty, bus as long as the family's
income was more than $30,000 a year, income made no difference.-McQuaide. In Fact low income was
one of the biggest factors in midlife distress in this survey, and was ranked higher than spirituality
which had almost no effect on ones perceived happiness. Roeske poses at a similar notion which is a
crisis may occur if the individual has not established the industry, identity, and intimacy which are
necessary antecedents to midlife career consolidation.

Women at midlife experience changes in their bodies which can cause distress. The aging
process can cause issues like hindered mobility and physical illnesses can become more severe as one
ages. These factors can contribute to distress during midlife. One's ability to navigate being dependent
on others can effect how easily one adapts to the physical changes of aging. Menopause can be a
contributing factor to female midlife crisis. The loss of child birthing ability can be an insecurity to
some women. According to Polden's article The mood swings and physiological changes of the
menopause must at some point be faced. But data from McQuaid's survey women midlife says that
Menopausal status was not related to well-being, rather that positive feelings about one's appearance
was a stronger contributing factor. Women who maintain a higher level of heath also feel happier, The
main objective is to provide primary preventive care with the goals of preventing illness, prolonging
life, and enhancing the quality of life.-Khandelwal
Empty nesting is also a common cause of midlife distress. Some women build their identity
around mother hood and their children leaving a large shift that must be reconciled. In some situations
empty nesting can but strain on a woman's relationship with her husband. When children leave their
home the husband and wife must reassess their marriage. Is the marriage based on finances, guilt,
cowardice, passivity, continuing concern for the children, neurotic interactions from the families of
origin, or punishment of self or spouse?-Roeske. Some women may experience this as a sort of loss
and are forced to work through the related emotions. One may be surprised to find that men also
experience distress caused by empty nesting. According to Roeske there has been a rise of marriage
equality (1982).
Although there are common issues among women midlife, not all women experience midlife
crisis. There is no evidence that maturation in midlife requires a psychological state of instability,
caused by excessive stress, that endangers the continuity of the individual's development. Rather, it
appears that the progressive mastery of the earlier stages of life are usually critical for midlife

maturation, although the age at which mastery of a stage occurs varies enormously -Roeske.
Women today experience different issues midlife than previous generations of women. As stated
in an earlier paragraph, career and finance have a great deal to do with women's esteem midlife.
Women today enter the job market with higher expectations that their counterparts in the past. For
smart, goal-driven women, a mid-life crisis isn't about recovering lost youth. It's about discovering the
application of their greatness. The problem is that no one has defined what "greatness" looks like so the
quest has no specific destination.-Reynolds. Women may not have a positive midlife role model and
this can cause distress, Mclaine says that women with high self esteem have a confident or group of
close friends with which to confide.
It has beed found that there are indicators that can identify some one who is in high risk of
experiencing midlife crisis. Roeske claims that there are six traits that act as indicators of high risk
individuals, they are as follows
1. The person who is unaware of or unable to accept the evolutionary nature of life;
2. The immature person who is confronted with inescapable demands for maturity;
3. The person who is ready to mature, but is prevented from doing so by family and / or other
circumstances;
4. The person whose self-concept of career consolidation is challenged as erroneous by significant
persons, e.g., employer or spouse;
5. The person whose primary source of intimacy and emotional support is fragile or illusionary;
6. The person who is confronted with a life-threatening illness or surgery.
This claims that the common stereotypes about female midlife crisis such as menopause and empty
nesting are not as strong contributors than ones individual maturity and one being allowed to reach
emotional maturity.

The fear of dealing with all the before mentioned issues can seem daunting to any aging person.
The fear of dealing with one's own eventual death and coming to terms with aging is a universal
struggle but according to the data it seems that generally women at midlife live happy fulfilled lives.
Fortunately there are simple ways to work towards a successful midlife. McQuaid states that family
income over 30,000 dollars a year, friends, good health high self reliance, goals for the future, positive
role models, and positive feelings about one's appearance are major contributing factors to a woman's
well being at mid-life. It is important for women to have sense of self reliance and self-empowerment
to thrive midlife. To promote a healthy midlife one can pursue relationships with friends and pursue
health and well-being. One can also make goals and plans for the future and actively pursue them.
Another contributor to well-being is having a positive female role model. I think it is important for
women midlife to embrace younger women and be good role models.
In conclusion, the common conceptions about what cause female midlife crisis are not as
accurate as we have been led to believe. There are some common stereotypes around female midlife
crisis which have some truth to them, but do not effect women as much as issues of self. According to
McQuaide's survey Menopausal status and symptoms, caring for parents, an emptied nest, educational
level, marital status, occupation, and feminism were not correlated to midlife well-being. The majority
of women in this survey express high degrees of well-being Women with a higher sense of relevance
seem to cope with the changes of mid-life. What contributes to one's self worth is not universal, but
generally people who feel as if they are valuable handle midlife issues very well.

Bibliography
Khandelwal, S. (2010). Midlife health: A mission. Journal of Mid-Life Health,1(1), 12.
doi:10.4103/0976-7800.66982
McQuaide, S. (1998). Women at midlife. Social Work, 43(1), 21-31.
Polden, J. (2002). Regeneration journey through the mid-life crisis. London: Continuum.
Reynolds, M. (2010). Wander woman how high-achieving women find contentment and direction. San
Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.