The Midlife Transition: Crisis or Chimera?

Abstract

The construct of the midlife crisis is examined on definitional, developmental, psychoanalytic, and existential dimensions, and the literature reviewed. The DSM-III—R criteria for Adjustment Disorder appear to subsume the midlife crisis paradigm, and only a small percentage of people high in neuroticism are prone to developmental crises. It is argued that the crisis model is a contemporary social construct that has outlived its usefulness.