CHECK Magazin - Gesundheitsmagazin für Männer No.15

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THE MIDLIFE AVALANCHE
The term midlife crisis is familiar, having been coined
as early as 1965 by the then fairly unknown Canadian
psychoanalyst and organisational consultant Elliott
Jaques. He had observed the careers of a number of
composers and artists and found that at the age of 35
there was a sudden change in style or decline in
productivity. As people get progressively older and
not all are creative geniuses, mid-life crisis does not
automatically mean that this phenomenon occurs
halfway through life – if at all. Wicked tongues might
say the midlife crisis merely reflects the behaviour of an
adult who no longer likes their toys.
Concentrated stress
The midlife collision is not only more dramatic
in name. It is a phase of life in which
the amount of stress factors increases significantly.
Taking care of children, siblings,
partners and parents, as well as financial,
professional and health problems, already
pose major challenges individually. In middle
age they often accumulate and while the
physical, mental and emotional effects such
as burn-out, depression or alcohol abuse
can occur relatively quickly, the social and
economic consequences tend to make
themselves felt more insidiously.
Budgets spiral downwards
If, for example, adequate care for parents
is not guaranteed by the insurance fund,
many see no other option than to give up
their careers and take on this responsibility
themselves. They may decide to take a
half--time job, which also means a loss of
the compulsory pay to the social insurance
institutions – i.e. even smaller budgets.
Foto: ©Damian Markutt
The collision potential for workers
who are currently 40-60 years old is
enormously high and, moreover, comes at
a time when, despite the tense economic
situation, almost a third of German workers
are thinking of quitting anyway. The main
factors are insufficient pay (39 %), dissatisfaction
with managers (36 %) and lack of
professional development and promotion
(34 %) 1 . So what to do to prevent a midlife
avalanche? To prevent the midlife collision
from turning into resignation, we need...
• a good working climate!
• more support through social services!
• more flexible therapy offers!
Improving the working conditions of caregivers
would also ensure less absenteeism
due to illness and overwork.
LGBTI* and the midlife collision
Many parents experience a child’s LGBTI*
identity as a threat to their expectations of
heterosexual respectability and normality.
LGBTI* thus have to fight harder for a
functional parent-child relationship. The
rejection of their gender or sexual identity
requires special conflict work, often at
the expense of the personal needs of the
conflict workers. This includes conflict education,
conflict avoidance and acceptance,
and setting personal boundaries to protect
one’s identity. Employers and care services
may take this into account when working
towards a solution. (ts, mb)
1
1 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-
performance/our-insights/european-talent-is-ready-to-walk-out-thedoor-how-should-companies-respond
63 CHECK MAG #15