Reggie Perrin or Walter White: what does a 21st-century midlife crisis look like?

For years, the midlife crisis has been no more than a sitcom joke. But now some experts are insisting that’s because we don’t understand how it has changed

I was sitting gingerly on the bonnet of a classic Mercedes when I thought: “Hang on a minute. I know why I have been asked to write about this academic’s argument that we should all stop trivialising the midlife crisis.”

But I wouldn’t describe what happened to me as a midlife crisis. It’s true I was square in middle age – 42 – when I fell in love, fair and square, with a man who wasn’t my husband. I had to get divorced, and now I am, however you cut it, on my second marriage. There are as many people who would say to this, “Love is bullshit,” as would say, “The heart wants what it wants,” but if I know anything with certainty, it’s that you should never try to justify yourself to the first lot.

Continue reading...