# When does midlife crisis begin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694 "2000-12-29T19:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@Peppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peppy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/1 "2000-12-29T19:02:57Z")
i say 35. colleague says 40. his bro says 30. others say 50. what’s your take ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/2 "2000-12-29T19:41:00Z")
I’m 37, and it hasn’t happened to me yet. I’m pretty satisfied with my life, overall. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dal\_timgar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@dal\_timgar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dal_timgar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/3 "2000-12-29T19:52:38Z")
i’m working on my third. i’m almost 49. i usually quit my job, take 3 months to a year off. i decided to annoy the planet with Economic Wargames, some people like it. haven’t found an economist that likes it yet tho. Dal Timgar ---
**Author:** ![hedra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/779978/32.png) [@hedra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hedra)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/4 "2000-12-29T20:03:00Z")
Wouldn’t it vary? It is whenever you panic about not having done all you wanted to do, and you wonder where the time went, and wonder whether you are now ‘old’ or will be soon, and realize that you are closer to dead than born, and have to run out and do all the youthful things that you never got to do (like buy hot cars and sleep with leggy redheads and start a business), and all that. Kind of a personal crisis, so any answer would be right. I’ve known people to have midlife crises at anywhere between 34 and 60+. I think my dad had his latest one (he’s had a few of them) at retirement (67). One friend had his when he became a father for the first time (34), and suddenly realized that he was locked in to being a grownup for the rest of his life, but he’d neglected to ever be young/youthful/free. Too bad he didn’t realize that dads get to do most of the fun silly stuff, too… Most I’ve seen happen in their early to mid-40’s, when there still seems to be enough time to go out and start a new life. When it happens to someone much older than that, you don’t notice as much, because those people just get depressed or deal, because running away and starting over (or in the bad cases, pretending to be young) doesn’t look so peachy. And lots of people never have them, or not noticably. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/5 "2000-12-29T20:05:37Z")
I had my first midlife crisis at age 15. ---
**Author:** ![Scarred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Scarred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarred)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/6 "2000-12-29T21:16:35Z")
It happens when you first realize your body can’t do the things it used to. For me, age 35. It happens again when you start seeing peers dropping dead. 40 is about right for that one. Hey, looks like 5 year increments! I’ll let you know next year about 45. ---
**Author:** ![Bellex17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@Bellex17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellex17)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/7 "2000-12-29T21:27:15Z")
38 ---
**Author:** ![Wozzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@Wozzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wozzo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/8 "2000-12-29T22:13:16Z")
I’ve had several, all at multiples of 7 (28, 35, etc). It doesn’t seem to correlate with _being happy_ or _being unhappy_ with life; it feels pretty much physiological to me, rather than psychological. My reaction to each step (assuming that this is taking me anywhere!) has been correspondingly physical: taking up martial arts, giving up smoking, taking up smoking again, and the like. Of course, I’m saying all this in retrospect. There may actually be a red-hot sports car (or something) in my future. But I won’t bet on it. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/9 "2000-12-30T06:20:03Z")
When I realized I could’ve fathered that 20 year old I was ogling. Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/10 "2000-12-30T07:45:01Z")
I want to know when it ends! Okay, Okay, actually I started regretting all the things I hadn’t done and probably wouldn’t ever do about the time I hit 50, and it seemed like everybody I looked up to when I was growing up was dropping dead. (I’m 53). But I have a fairly mild case, I think. I wouldn’t mind a Corvette, but I haven’t got the patience to put up with a 20 year old blonde. I do think I should buy a boat though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/11 "2000-12-30T09:04:56Z")
Mid life, of course. See, what you do is, you find out when you’re going to die, then you divide by two. Simple. I can’t believe you hadn’t figured that out on your own. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/12 "2000-12-30T10:10:37Z")
Much like Tracer–I had my ‘midlife crisis’ early on. Around 14. Of course–since I’m only 18, there’s no telling if it could happen again. 😛 I’d say it happens any time that you begin to grasp the full meaning of your mortality. Whether it happens early on, or later on. -Ashley ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/13 "2000-12-30T13:40:49Z")
I’d always heard that a mid-life crisis is what happens to middle-aged folks (men _or_ women) who suddenly realize that they’d gone as far as they were ever going to go in their career (IE, you’re the Second Assistant to the Comptroller of Acme Widgets and you realize that you’re never going to make it to First Assistant, at Acme Widgets or anywhere else) and were either satisfied with their lot in life or were doomed forever - and weren’t satisfied with their lot in life. Happenend to me in my mid-forties, but I was lucky enough to be satisfied right where I was. Still, you’ve got to be childish about _something_, so I took up golf. ---
**Author:** ![Emperor\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@Emperor\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emperor_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/14 "2000-12-30T23:08:44Z")
I’m right in the middle of my mid life crisis. Of course I’m only 19, so calling it that may be a bit of an omen. For some odd reason, I have a feeling that this will only be the first of many… ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/15 "2000-12-30T23:42:34Z")
I had my first at a mere 17 years of age when I dropped out of school and moved 300 miles away from home. That lasted about 2 years. I think (at 30) I’m in the middle of another one…it would certainly explain this last year. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/16 "2000-12-31T00:20:36Z")
I don’t know who started it but I don’t believe in a midlife crisis. Here is a quote for those who wonder what it is, as it seems ya all arent quite sure: “How do you recognize a midlife crisis? What are its symptoms? According to “New York Times” Editorial Page Editor Howell Raines, “it typically begins with mild twinges of dread, disappointment and restlessness that tiptoe in on little cat feet. Then in some cases, the cat feet turn to elephant feet.”” ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/17 "2000-12-31T01:47:33Z")
About three years before you can be forced to admit that’s what you are going through \ have gone through. ---
**Author:** ![Welfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e56c9b/32.png) [@Welfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Welfy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/18 "2000-12-31T02:34:07Z")
While I may not be in the middle of my life right now, I do believe I’m having a midlife crisis right now, at the tender age of 18. I know that’s young, but I feel so _old_. I don’t even want to imagine what 30 will feel like! Then again, people said I’ve been an old lady my entire life, so go fig. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/19 "2000-12-31T06:36:45Z")
I always wonder if i’ve done enough. If i’m good enough. And before i turned sixteen i felt half my life was over (I just feel i’m going to die young, call me morbid)…and I hadn’t DONE anything with it. I feel better though. So if i had to pinpoint it… I’d say midlife crisis begins when you emerge from the womb, naked, bloody as hell, and screaming. Why else are newborns so POed at the world when they’re first born? Life is one big midlife crisis. :o ---
**Author:** ![ShakeNBake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@ShakeNBake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakeNBake)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-midlife-crisis-begin/47694/20 "2000-12-31T08:11:35Z")
I’m voting for 46.