Know The Stressors In Midlife

In our previous blog, we discussed the midlife transition and the need to be proactive for healthy midlife. Now, the first step towards a healthy midlife is to know the stressors in midlife. If we are aware of the stress-inducing elements in midlife, we can draw a plan to eliminate them or learn ways to manage them.

Midlife Transition – Know Your Stressors

Midlife transition is a changing phase of our life. It is a part of the natural aging process and it often alters the way we think or perceive our situations. Mostly, the circumstances, people and challenges around us, create a sense of pressure, which act as stressors in midlife. For most of us, the midlife transition is influenced by such changing circumstances.
Researchers have found stressors like health concerns, work and family issues, death and financial worries most prominent in midlife women1.
Some of the common stressors in midlife include the following.
• Physical changes – One of the major stressors in midlife as it results in changes in our physical appearance and abilities. With aging, we not only begin to look different but sometimes our ability to perform particular tasks also begins to change. While some feel less energetic during the midlife transition, some experience difficulty in performing those activities which were once very easy.

• Hormonal changes – Hormonal changes are common during the midlife transition and important stress-inducing element. While women experience perimenopause and menopause, men too face issues with hormonal changes. It commonly affects body weight, appearance, sexuality and causes emotional disturbances as well.

• Health issues – With the advancement of age, lifestyle problems and other health issues begin to act as stressors. Chronic pain, limited functioning or other complaints make the midlife transition more stressful.

• Work-related stress – Job stress is always a stressor but is more prominent during midlife. Overworking, job insecurity, career advancement, conflicts at the workplace can affect work-life balance and create stress.

• Family problems – Changing roles and added responsibilities often make 45 plus people get stressed out. During midlife, people experience ailing family member or death of near ones that adds to the stress. Women, in particular are caught between worries about adolescent children and aging parents, while some face challenges at work or domestic life.

• Emotional problems – Midlife is a common phase when we are gripped with concerns about future, career, health and all sorts of worries. All these concerns ultimately result in emotional problems.

For healthy midlife, we must be able to identify the stressors and the way it affects our mental frame. In our next blog, we will look at how midlife stress can affect our health.

References
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6298022/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6297937/