50's crisis in men: what it is, characteristics and causes

The crisis of the 50s is a psychological problem (although not a psychopathology) that affects many people in a world in which there is a genuine devotion to the idea of ​​being young.

Although it can affect people of all kinds, in this article we are going to focus specifically on its way of damaging the quality of life of men in Western societies. So that, Let's see how the crisis of the 50s usually occurs when men live it.

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What is the crisis of the 50?

The 50's crisis is a type of psychological discomfort that occurs in some people when they reach or approach 50 years of age.

It is fundamentally about a self-esteem problem in which the perception of one's own age plays a very important role and leads to dysfunctional ways of managing emotions and seeing oneself, leading to what is known as a prophecy effect self-fulfilling: much of what is said or done is interpreted as a sign that we are worth less because of being that age and living in a context determined.

That said, let's see what are the main characteristics of the crisis of the 50s.

1. It is not a problem arising from age

This can be counterintuitive, but if we stop to think about it, it is not. The fact of exceeding the threshold of 50 years does not trigger the crisis of 50, of course: this is an arbitrary number that is relevant because of the meaning we attribute to it socially in general, and specifically, in western culture.

This partly explains why only a part of the people who reach this age develop the crisis of the 50 or something similar to it.

Thus, the way to overcome the crisis of the 50s is psychosocial in nature, and does not depend on the degree of biological maturity of the person suffering from this discomfort.

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2. It thrives on ageism

If the crisis of the 50s exists, it is because, for several decades, there have been a series of cultural dynamics that extol everything that has to do with youth and the aesthetics associated with is.

Knowing that you are far from your youth (which is perceived as a stage of life buried in the past) leads many people to develop many complexes with their appearance, abilities and achievements, and wishing they were much younger due to negative messages about middle age and old age that society constantly spreads.

In other words, the crisis of the 1950s can be understood, at least in part, as the psychological imprint that leaves in some people the discrimination directed against people who have exceeded a certain age.

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3. It is also supported by the concept of success

We have seen that the crisis of the 50s is based on the idea that once the youth nucleus has been reached, each passing year diminishes the value of the person. However, it is not left alone there; It also relies on another system of prejudices that goes in a somewhat different direction: the concepts of "successful person" and "unsuccessful person".

These topics consist of a series of expectations and topics about what a successful life project is supposed to be, and that takes many elements of the consumer model and the idea of ​​"self-made man" ("self-made man") linked to welfare societies appeared in West.

It is understood that people have a certain time to demonstrate their value, and that this is reflected in the ability to accumulate material goods, to build a model of very concrete family, and to accumulate intellectual capital (that is, to access the “high culture").

As it is assumed that most career paths have already reached their "ceiling" around 50 years of age, crossing that age limit supposes experience the social pressure to compare oneself with other people and assess whether this journey has been successful or not, and by extension, whether oneself has value or not.

Anything away from that Anglo-Saxon white male idea of ​​success subtracts points, which implies that a huge part of the population, diverse by its very nature, has many reasons to feel bad upon reaching that stage of life.

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Forms of malaise associated with the 50's crisis in men

These are the main sources of discomfort that men who go through the crisis of the 50s often suffer.

1. They tend to suffer from imposter syndrome

Many men have the feeling that part of what they are managing to maintain because of their socioeconomic status is due to the simple fact that have been working in a company or in a specific professional environment for more years than the youngest (and because of the contacts they have gained through the path), not for the fact of being really more valuable or competitive in the labor market.

This makes them attribute a good part of their successes to elements external to them, and that makes them feel bad when comparing yourself to younger professionals, underestimating the qualities that really have. In this sense, it should be remembered that, in general, the value in the labor market tends to influence the self-esteem of men more.

2. They feel bad if they notice that they have failed to establish traditional families or accumulate wealth.

At this age it is already becoming common to look back and value the past as if it were the bulk of one's life, the core of one's life journey. That is, the person assumes that nothing positive will happen that is remarkable and has not happened before.

This idea, in addition to being erroneous, leads many people to feel anguish if they reach the age of 50 (an important psychological threshold) and feel dissatisfied with their expectations of starting a family. And since men have traditionally been seen as the leaders of the family unit because of sexist dynamics, these kinds of "failures" are seen as failures of oneself.

Something similar happens with economic achievements, understood with the ability to earn money. In this aspect, it is easy for men to compare themselves only to people who have achieved privileged socioeconomic status in less time than them.

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3. They suffer from a lack of references about what they should aspire to

As many men dedicate themselves to focusing almost exclusively on economic or professional goals, it is relatively frequent that when they reach their 50th birthday they stop feeling motivated to earn more and more (either because they have less reason to think than in relatively short time they could have progressed a lot in this aspect, or because they think more about death) and this leads to a crisis existential. That is, to wonder about what is important to them in life.

The inability to fill that void takes the form of the crisis of the 50s in a version characterized by disorientation and the discomfort of not knowing where to start to make their comings something exciting.

Are you looking for psychological support?

If you want to have psychological assistance, I encourage you to contact me. I am a psychologist specialized in the cognitive-behavioral model and I work helping adults and adolescents.

You can count on my services both in person at my office located in Madrid or online by video call sessions.