# Mid-Life Crisis Age **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244 "2011-08-18T23:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anchuldigs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anchuldigs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anchuldigs)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/1 "2011-08-18T23:25:00Z")
At what age does the average American male experience a mid-life crisis. There’s a lot riding on your answer folks (bet with wife - who is making dinner next week), so think before you vote. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/2 "2011-08-18T23:32:17Z")
I don’t plan on having my mid-life crisis until after 50 at the earliest. That way I’ll live much longer. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/3 "2011-08-19T01:04:12Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I don’t plan on having my mid-life crisis until after 50 at the earliest. That way I’ll live much longer. It can happen at anything, but this basically. If you’re over the 35-40ish range. It’s not really a midlife crisis unless you plan to be 82 or older. The AVERAGE person in first world countries lives to be 75. Although Dopers seem to all think they’re going die at 352. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/4 "2011-08-19T01:20:23Z")
It really goes all over the place depending on your life in general. I voted 35-40, but I had mine at 43 (yes, I do plan to live to at least 86; based on my family’s lifespans, I’d be one of the younger ones to die!) ) but I have a friend who’s going through one right now at age 59. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/5 "2011-08-19T01:39:49Z")
I had my first one at 24…then at 30, 34, 39, 42, 47, 50… Each one was worse than the last. I take hope that immortality may be invented by 2020:( ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/6 "2011-08-19T01:59:18Z")
I think you have one every decade give or take a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Anchuldigs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anchuldigs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anchuldigs)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/7 "2011-08-19T02:06:01Z")
I’m in my low 20’s but I’m going to try to convince my wife to let me have mine as soon as I can afford a Corvette. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/8 "2011-08-19T12:06:27Z")
Been going strong since I was 29, so mine has lasted over two decades so far. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/9 "2011-08-19T12:31:57Z")
I had mine at 40, so I wasn’t sure how to vote. I voted 40-45 because it took a couple years to really resolve. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/10 "2011-08-19T12:46:23Z")
I’d always been told 40 was when one had a mid-life crisis. The year I turned 40 there was a major flood and I didn’t have time. At my 50th birthday party I mentioned how I hadn’t had a mid-life crisis. Everyone was appalled. So we started discussing what I should do about that. The idea of a cruise came up. Now at this particular party there was me, the birthday boy, a couple friends who had turned 50 earlier in the year and a couple of friends (the squeeze included) who were going to turn 50 soon. Since no one had had a mid-life crisis a cruise seemed like a good idea. Two weeks later, we booked a cruise for mid-October for five days. For those five days we acted like fools. That was a group mid-life crisis. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/11 "2011-08-19T13:14:02Z")
I have no idea what the average is, so I didn’t vote. I got mine out of the way when I was 27. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mid-life-crisis-age/593244/12 "2011-08-19T13:14:11Z")
What exactly qualifies as a midlife crisis? I just turned 41 last week. Haven’t had one nor do I intend to have one.