Depressed in your 40s? According to new study, Hang in there, Things will improve.

[Mike 03]

"Depression peaks around age 44," according to this study.

Excerpt:

Middle age makes you miserable, so don't blame your
job, your kids, your spouse, your income or lack of
it, suggests an international study of 2 million people
from 80 nations released today.

Researchers from Great Britain and the USA analyzed
data spanning more than 35 years on measures such
as depression, anxiety, mental well-being, happiness
and life satisfaction.

They found that men and women in their 40s were
more likely to be depressed and weren't as happy as
other ages. Middle age is such a low point for well-
being that it's at the bottom of a U-shaped curve that
indicates greater happiness among the young and
old.

Read More Here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-28-midlife-depression_N.htm


EDIT: Changed Link

[styersc]

1. Geez, I didn't know I was supposed to be depressed.

Now I'm worried. Maybe I'm behind the curve.

[H2O Man]

2. Interesting.

I remember when I was young.

[Swamp Rat]

12. Me and Susie used to have so much fun.

:D :hi:

[Mari333]

3. more depressed now than when I was in my 40s.

[nilram]

20. ditto. next study, please.

[RainDog]

4. you're taking care of two generations n/t

[Darth_Kitten]

22. Or still having/raising a new one.

;)

[RainDog]

25. that's what I mean. taking care of your own kids while some of us have parents who are older

who have health problems and need care too.

when my kids were preschoolers I was driving four hours every other weekend to help tend to my stepmother when she was dx'd with ovarian cancer. then she died and my dad had health problems - probably related to his loss. actually, that was before I hit 40 so nevermind.

[Darth_Kitten]

29. Lots to cope with in your thirties......

:hug:

I'm hoping to have a kid in the next couple of years (whilst I still can!) and I suppose I'm lucky in that my parents are still pretty young (early 60's) so I haven't had that caretaker role yet. I have a few other goals as well (career, personal development, etc).

Funny, I feel younger and have a whole set of goals in my 40's that I didn't really have in my 30's.

When I hear of 40 something individuals going back to school, changing careers, or doing things they've always wanted to do, I feel inspired. Good for them!! :)

[RainDog]

32. yeah..

but I'm not a good one to talk to about that at this moment, what with going back to grad school and being in a really, really crappy job market.

oh, and that stuff in my 30s? that was the easy stuff. honestly. my ex is bipolar. he attempted suicide when our first child was less than a year old and thus began more than a decade of the same off and on while never knowing which would be which when.

that sort of thing is traumatic... but I've been learning good and bad ways to deal with all of it. hopefully the good ways will be more common.

[seabeyond]

5. 46ish for me and not depressed as in clinical. but there are things to reconcile

gate way to old. big change coming on. makes absolute sense

[renate]

10. I know what you mean about the "gateway to old"

I'm most definitely not vain but so far I've noticed it the most in terms of my changing appearance. (Although I have to give a mad shout-out to Roc Night Serum--that stuff is the shiznit!) The other day I was incredibly flattered at Target when I was asked for ID (in the sense that I knew I look far too old to actually need to be carded, but maybe? possibly? young enough that the cashier might want to be nice and make my day by plausibly pretending that I looked like I could be just a little over 29), but then it turned out that they ask that of EVERYONE now, to scan the bar code on the back of the driver's license into their system. And I've started not buying certain types of clothing because although I could pull them off now, I know I'll be too old for them pretty soon and I'd just look like mutton dressed as lamb. I'm only in my mid-forties, and my teenage years seem like yesterday... so yeah, it is weird to be thinking of myself as "too old" for even trivial things like certain clothes. It's just the beginning of the transition, but the big changes are coming--stuff like suddenly being in the high-risk groups for various cancers, heart disease, etc. And there's the really big stuff like worrying about my parents (who are as hale as horses, thank goodness, but still) and anticipating an empty nest... :cry:

[seabeyond]

13. yup... to all you say. and embracing it brings a calm

but man, there is that small period it is like the end of the world

[truedelphi]

18. What is Roc Night Serum? A moisturizer,

An energy drink.

I think when you are in your forties, it does, like you say, seem like the teen years are not that far back. And it's only when you catch yourself realizing that society sees you as forty that you do that double take.

Once in your fifties, if you are not experiencing weird financial downs, or health crisis, there is a sense of calmness and pleasantness that was not part of the forty something years.

[frazzled]

6. Forties is middle-aged? Now I'm really depressed.

I felt really young in my forties. Fifties, not so much (the knees started to go, and I started to have foot problems.) I'm going to turn 60 in less than two weeks. If forties is middle-aged, then 60 must be truly old. But then what does that make my 93-year-old dad? He still goes to the gym every day and still drives (lord help us).

I'm confused. I guess that's a sign of aging.

[omega minimo]

11. LOL

:hi:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

26. You sound frazzled.

:-) Just playing around. :hi:

[Darth_Kitten]

30. I consider 50 middle aged.....

Being that people can live to be 100 and beyond. :)

Somebody told me yesterday that I don't age (she's known me for several years)

She's right, I don't. ;) :hide:

[lunatica]

7. My 40s were very hard

But my 50s were the best decade of my life. I'm hoping my 60s are too. I'm 61.

Being post menopausal also makes many things much better.

[CTyankee]

15. I went back to college to finish my degree in my mid 50s! Then at age 59 I went for a Master's.

I balanced a demanding job, school and the beginning of my mother's decline in health as her age increased. It resulted in 2004 with my retirement from full time work. It was a merciful decision. I started collecting Social Security and easily found a part time job to supplement my income. Those were the days, of course (2004). If I hadn't done that, I would have probably had some kind of stroke because my blood pressure from job/family stuff just shot up. It's been pretty stable since my sensible decision. I like life now...

[truedelphi]

19. That is so commendable.

I think more and more people are doing that. And even people who got a Master's degree earlier on, go back and learn another field while in their fifties or older.

[CTyankee]

38. Actually, I got a kick in the pants. Since I didn't complete the B.A. degree

I was ineligible for a job I really wanted, so I realized that I HAD to go back to school. A real wake up call. I decided then that it was time to do this and there was a program, thankfully, at a local college that I took advantage of.

What a wonderful path it was! I found riches on the way to my undergraduate degree and then a wonderful way to my Master's. I loved every minute of it...

[Darth_Kitten]

21. Good for you!

:D

[hfojvt]

8. not for me. I think my depression peaked at age 33

by age 44 I semi-retired. Nothing really depressing about that.

[Faygo Kid]

9. Late 40s were tough: 46 to 52 were the worst. Better now, or more accepting.

External factors, to be sure, but I went through clinical depression during that time. Gained a new understanding of what it's all about. Learned to cling to the things that matter, anyway. Acceptance, finally. I ache for those in the throes of clinical depression. It is the worst.

[seabeyond]

14. Acceptance.... key. nt

[lordsummerisle]

16. Hmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd4tugPM83c

[intheflow]

17. Thank God!

I just had my 45th birthday, and let me tell you, 40-44 were the worse fucking years of my life, starting with my sister dying on my 40th birthday. It just went downhill from there! But, thankfully, things are actually starting to look up these days, so maybe there's something to this! :thumbsup:

[BrklynLiberal]

23. Actually, when I was in my40s I was ecstatic compared to how I feel now.

No job, no health care, no hope for either in the near future.
I have already sold just about anything I have worth anything to pay my rent and other bills...
What is there to look forward to??

[HCE SuiGeneris]

24. At 47, I can adamantly agree with this conclusion.

It has been a really, really rough ride the last 6-7 years.

[Cetacea]

27. Studies come, studies go, propoganda is constant

Got to keep the strongest workers hopeful. Earth is going.

[ellie]

28. I was extremely depressed in my 30s

Now that I am in my 40s, I have a better perspective and feel pretty great.

[704wipes]

31. 50's are better until you get sacked about 54 with no HC covg

then it's a race between your health and Medicare coverage.
Good Luck with that here in the Greatest Country in the World.

[Blue_In_AK]

33. I hated my 40s.

50s was a lot better, and 60s ROCK. Seriously, I'm having the time of my life now. Kids are grown, I'm mostly retired, I can pursue my hobbies. I really love it.

Of course, I'm lucky in that we are relatively financially secure and healthy. After all I've been through in my life, it's nice to finally find some peace.

[pitohui]

34. that's absolutely ridiculous, who gets depressed in their 40s except lifelong depressed?

i read the link but it's basically this one study saying it and it just doesn't pass the smell test from my observation plus didn't we just get the study from the u.k. last year saying that it's women in their early 20s who are the most depressed?

whoever knew a 40something who was depressed, who wasn't depressed at least from their teen years to begin with? normal 40somethings aren't depressed, that's why we have all those friends who killed themselves in their teens/early 20s and then again those folks who killed themselves in old age for health reasons but, honestly, clinical depression is a disease w. a risk of death (suicide) and 40 yr olds don't have the time and drama to bother with it IME

we also all know people who have gone crazy in their 50s from menopause or male menopause, but in your 40s?

life begins at 40 and pretty much reaches a peak then, your career is developed, you have some $$$ saved and can do as you please w.out anyone telling you want to do, you're still healthy enough to do all the activities you like to the fullest, it's the one time of life when you have some $ and some time and independence -- a lot of us still had our looks in our forties, too, not really possible much into your 50s w.out advanced surgical tech, alas

now, as far as idiots who wait to have kids in their 40s, yes, i can understand them being depressed BUT i think they were depressed and screwed up to begin with...they didn't trust their younger self who made a decision not to have kids when they were at the appropriate physical age to have kids and trying to have a baby when your body is, in mother nature's eyes, the right age to be a grandparent probably doesn't do anything for your hormones or energy levels...i have to admit, i don't spend much time w. women who suddenly are all miserable and full of regret and think the way to handle regret is start popping out babies...but those women who did this in their 40s would be just as miserable if they'd started popping out the baby in their late teens/early 20s as our mothers did...some people are just born to be discontented and unhappy and HOWEVER their life turns out, they decide it's the wrong way

but those people aren't MORE unhappy at age 40, we all know those people, they've been miserable and unbearable lifelong...

seriously, what do you have to be unhappy about when you're 45 that isn't worse at 15 or 75????

[HCE SuiGeneris]

37. Seriously, how is it that you think you can speak for everyone else?

Your proclamation is nothing but arrogance and naivety.

[dysfunctional press]

35. mine sure didn't peak at 44...

in fact, it still seems to be on an upward(downward:shrug:) track.

[Occulus]

36. I'm depressed as hell right now and I'm only 34

But then, the last few years have not been good ones. I keep hoping things will start looking up for me, but my life is only getting worse and worse as time goes by....