Intermediate adulthood: what it is, characteristics and how it affects us

Middle adulthood, also known as middle age, is the period between 40 and 65 years of age, after early adulthood and before late adulthood.

This period is characterized by being less vigorous than in previous periods, but also by having a more stable life, forming a family and already having a well-established professional career.

There are several characteristics that stand out in middle-aged people and we are going to see them in detail below.

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What is middle adulthood?

Middle adulthood or middle age is the period between early adulthood and late adulthood, or what is the same, young adulthood and old age. As with the rest of the life stages, there is some debate about when it starts and when it ends but, as a general rule, it is considered to range from 40 to 65 years of age.

In general, this stage has not been as studied as the previous ones. Middle adulthood has not received as much research attention as childhood and adolescence. However, in recent decades, more and more experts have been concerned with understanding what changes are taking place. throughout middle age, especially as life expectancy has been increasing in countries developed.

Among the most important aspects of the life of people who are in middle adulthood are your professional career, the care and education of your children and the preparation of your future retirement.

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Physical and psychological characteristics

Among the characteristics and notable aspects of middle adulthood we find:

Physical characteristics

Throughout the period between 40 and 65 years of age, some signs of aging appear. Most people reach middle age with some trait that shows that they are getting closer to old age, Although they are not necessarily symptoms of disease or health problems, but rather signs that the years.

It is around the age of 40 when the sensory organs begin to lose sharpness and it will be necessary to use Vision and hearing aids, such as glasses for heavy eyes or hearing aids to increase the volume of the sounds. The external appearance also changes, appearing certain signs of aging such as, for example, less smooth skin, wrinkles or age spots. The hair will have grayed and, in many men and some women, alopecia appears.

Regarding energy levels, it is normal for people to be less vigorous in middle age than when they were young. In some cases they begin to notice pain in the joints, less strength in the extremities and greater general fatigue.

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Psychological characteristics

For a long time, developmental psychology believed that intelligence and cognitive abilities in They generally reached their peak around the age of 20 and, from that point on, began to worsen without remedy. This belief has been questioned as more research has been carried out on this question and the idea of fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.

It is true that as one ages certain capacities, such as memory, attention and orientation, are reduced, however, This does not mean that you are less intelligent in general.. The original belief that when we get older we are less intelligent was due to the fact that only fluid intelligence was taken into account, one that is used to solve new problems with more or less success, and it was discovered in the 1960s that the peak of this ability is at the 20 years.

However, it should be noted that crystallized intelligence develops throughout life, as long as there is no neurological disorder. This type of intelligence is defined as the ability that has to do with the acquisition of knowledge throughout life and the degree of mastery when applying it. It could be understood as synonymous with experience and wisdom and, how people over 40 years have lived more than one in 20, have more knowledge and therefore greater intelligence crystallized.

And it is as a result of having more experience with life that middle-aged adults tend to show greater confidence and self-assurance than when they were young. Having lived many experiences and better understanding how the world works makes them feel that they are more confident, in addition to understanding what their true capacities are and they know in which situations they will not have a problem to display them.

But it cannot be ignored either that It is at the beginning of this stage that some individuals begin to manifest certain difficulties. It is common for overcoming the psychological barrier of 40 years of age to enter a period of identity uncertainty, known as the midlife crisis. This crisis is characterized by a strong stress produced by the fact that the person realizes that he has not managed to fulfill some of his vital objectives and is already in the middle of his life.

The crisis of 40 makes some people want to relive their best years of youth. This is evidenced by a change in style and behavior in general, wearing new clothes, signing up for risky activities or trying to get along with younger people and even trying to make friends with the friends of the sons. Although these behaviors should not be seen as pathological, they can be interpreted as associated symptoms to a process in search of a new identity, also known as "midescencia" or "middlescence" in English.

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Physiological changes

As we mentioned before, the body undergoes a series of changes at the beginning and during middle age. In fact, this is the aspect that changes the most in people in middle adulthood. As the body ages certain vital functions begin to deteriorate and cause certain problems, which can be more or less serious depending on the lifestyle, habits and genetics of each individual.

It should be noted that development experts differentiate between primary aging and secondary aging. The primary one would have to do with all the changes associated with age that are inevitable, and that are the same in all people; while the secondary would be what would make the difference between some people and others, related to having carried a unhealthy lifestyle or present some genetic condition that makes aging more or less pronounced.

Among the symptoms of primary aging we find slight circulatory problems, lower levels of some hormones such as testosterone, a little loss of muscle mass and bone mass... In the case of secondary aging, lack of physical exercise, an unhealthy diet and the The use of harmful substances can have serious consequences such as advanced sarcopenia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or Cancer.

For these reasons, if it is already important to take care of health in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood to prevent long-term problems from developingIn mid-adulthood it is even more so. It may be a little late, but not long enough to avoid bigger problems.

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Sexuality and relationships

Sexuality, of course, has its peculiarities during middle adulthood. Sex drive is still strong, but not as high as in early adulthood. As they get older and older, people feel less and less sexual desire, although this does not mean that it is completely lost.

Sex is still enjoyed, but its intensity and frequency is lower and it is lived in a different way. Men and women have greater confidence in themselves, due to their life experiences and greater maturity, one enjoys one's sexuality in a less passionate but more profound way during the middle age.

However, it must be said that there may be certain problems associated with middle age that hinder the enjoyment of sex, or directly make it impossible to have sexual relations with the partner. One of these problems is the loss of privacy, related to an excessive workload, lack of of moments of loneliness for the couple due to having to take care of children or high levels of stress.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that There may be other more physiological problems that prevent you from enjoying a full sexual life. Among them we can find the lack of erections, difficulties to lubricate naturally or even premature loss of libido. Fortunately, all these physiological difficulties, and also the more relational and psychological, can be solved by going to a specialized professional, such as a couples psychologist or a doctor.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the relational aspect. Unlike in the previous period, people who are in middle age seek some stability in terms of affective relationships. This is a trend that is often suggested by the beginning of their thirties, a decade in which people are no longer so interested in having the maximum number of sexual partners and look for the definitive one, the one with whom to spend the rest of their life and start a family, at least in most of the cases.

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Life expectancy

Thanks to advances in biomedicine and the improvement of the quality of life in developed countries, life expectancy has grown. People living in the West and other welfare state societies like Japan have their provide foods that meet their nutritional requirements, allowing them to live longer. What's more, there is a greater awareness of the importance of taking care of health through a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise and avoiding unhealthy habits such as smoking or drinking alcohol.

This not only means that people live longer, they also seem younger. In popular culture it is often said that 40 is the new 30 and, thus, successively with the rest of the age groups and it has its reason for being. It is not strange to meet people who look up to 10 years younger, not only from a physical or physiological point of view but also from a psychological point of view.