This is an emotional crisis of self-confidence that can occur in early middle age. It commonly occurs in individuals between the ages of 45 and 65. This form of crisis makes middle-aged people feel trapped by societal expectations. People going through a midlife crisis can experience depression and anxiety.

Statistics reveal that the death rate among men remains highest since the year 2001, the most affected group are those aged between 45 and 65.

Dr. David Fraser (a recognized leadership expert) suggests that men need to live up to a certain average: have a couple of children, get married, have a good job, make a lot of cash and retire. With that tension, it’s likely to feel you are moving in a wrong direction or doing something wrong. Lucky there is few ways on how to prevent the midlife crisis.

• Tell yourself a better story: David Fraser urges that with a newspaper you have a choice to read which section you like and choose what you feel is relevant. Learning to filter can be important to maintaining a positive outlook on life. Dr. Fraser adds “You can choose what you pay attention to, so choose what makes you happy”.
• Help somebody who is worse than you: Assisting somebody could be the one thing a person in crisis would want to do. But Dr. David says that paying your attention to others can be an easy way to discover your motivation or ambitions in life. Assisting those who are experiencing depression at home can be immensely fulfilling, he argues. There are others who would love to have the opportunities and privileges that you have, so turning your focus to them can help you learn even more than the person you have helped, and you may achieve more than what you give.
• Listen to your elders: For men who are dealing with midlife crisis, there is the tendency to reconnect with their youth, be it through letting loose in a way they gave up many years ago or a new pair of the high-top trainer. While Dr. David says that’s not unhelpful, the best way is looking in the other direction, approaching elders who know what it’s like to deal with the challenges of aging. “Listening to intelligent heads can save us a lot of misery,” Fraser argues. As a society, we should put enough value on learning from the elders.
• Open up: Learning to communicate and discuss your insecurities, doubts, and worries is one step to dealing with them. And it’s not as challenging as you think. Having a one-on-one conversation with someone you trust, who will not judge you, is better than to a group of people. Let that person know how much you respect her/his viewpoint.
• Settle your regrets and move on: No, you can’t turn back time or undo what’s been done in the past, but you adapt your attitude and make the most of your situation. Life is all about ups and downs. Use regrets to your advantage to create new opportunities for yourself and move on with confidence as if nothing happened. Midlife can be a tremendous time but with development in modern science, we’ve got a lot of years ahead of us. Our happiness will largely depend on the choices we make for ourselves today.