re: #353 sagehen

Each of them have told you separately the things that are common for this age group?

I don’t want to call it a mid-life crisis, because mid-50’s is definitely past the halfway mark, and it’s not always or only empty-nest syndrome, but… what was it all for, how much is left and what am I going to do with it, I don’t have the energy I used to but I’m not ready to take permanently to my rocking chair either. These are the anxieties we face as we watch middle-age falling away in the rear-view mirror.

I had a total breakdown in my 50s brought on first by loss of a job I’d had for 5 yrs and in which I was making very good money, family problems, etc. I seemed paralyzed (the prescribed drugs did not help), I couldn’t make decisions, and everything just seemed to pile on, culminating in the loss of my house and having to move in with my son in ‘99. My friends totally deserted me and that really hurt.

Once I got out of the city, though, things improved considerably and my mind calmed tremendously. Took a much lesser job in a deli and quit the psychotropic drugs after a couple of months. I didn’t realize just how much responsibility I had piled upon my own back until I moved here. I think the fresh air and physical work helped, too. : )