4 Ways to Avoid Having a Midlife Crisis

You probably know the term "midlife crisis." It means that an individual is around an average human lifespan's midpoint, and they suddenly have dissatisfied or unhappy feelings. Some midlife crises can lead to divorce, an individual quitting their job, or other actions that seem uncharacteristic or abnormal.

This is a relatively common thing, and that's unfortunate. If someone has a midlife crisis, that probably means they don't feel good about some of the choices they've made.

There are some ways you can conduct your life, though, that make it less likely you will experience a midlife crisis when you approach middle age. Let's look at a few of them.

Be Totally Honest with Your Partner About What You Want

If you're partnered or married, one way you can avoid a midlife crisis is to remain honest throughout the relationship about what you want. The reason some midlife crises seem so sudden is that an individual has long been unhappy, but they have tried not to show it.

You can often avoid that unhappiness by telling your partner what you want instead of always giving in to their desires. If at some point you want something dramatically different than what your partner does, you owe it to both them and yourself to tell them that.

For instance, take having children. If you don't want them, you need to let your partner know instead of simply following along because it's what they want. You need to tell your spouse or partner if you don't want kids before they look into in vitro fertilization or something equally drastic.

Live Where You Want

Living somewhere you like plays into your happiness in a huge way. If you live somewhere you don't like, whether it's a city, state, or even a country, a midlife crisis or some sort of mental health breakdown becomes almost inevitable.

Again, you have to tell your spouse or partner if you want to move, rather than staying there because it's what they desire. You should be considerate, but if you're living somewhere you detest because it's what they want, you need to talk about that instead of bottling it up inside you.

If you live alone, you can move around much more easily. A midlife crisis is not as likely if you live somewhere you very much enjoy.

Have the Job You Want

Your job and career path play into your happiness too. Maybe you start at a job because it's easy for you to get. For instance, you might get into the family business if that's what people expect of you.

If you keep working a job you hate for many years, though, that's another situation where you're going to have dissatisfaction bubbling beneath the surface. You're probably going to snap at some point. Maybe you'll have a midlife crisis that manifests itself in a road rage incident.

If you know that you can't work at a particular job for very long without feeling unhappy, take steps to change your career path. That might seem risky to you, but no more so than suffering an eventual mental health breakdown because you can't stand going into work every morning.

Surround Yourself with People You Like

You might also have a breakdown or midlife crisis if you surround yourself with people you don't like. Maybe you're married or have a partner, and you feel for years that you two are growing apart. Perhaps you have friends from childhood, and you're still friendly as adults, but you know you're moving in different directions, and they're a bad influence in your life.

You should get rid of anyone in your life who is not a positive influence. If you know that you're in a relationship, or several relationships, that harm you more than help you, you need to shed them at all cost.

That can be hard, especially if some of the harmful people in your life are longtime friends or even family members. You may have known someone for a long time, but that does not mean they might be any less toxic for you.

The midlife crisis is somewhat of a cliché, but just because many people go through it, that doesn't make it any less serious. If you're happy in your life, though, it's much less likely that unsatisfied feelings will blindside you.

Keep track of how you feel and make smart decisions, and your mental health should remain in a good place.