Men-O-Pause: Am I Part of a Larger Demographic ?

I drove home today listening to 2BL's James Valentine's talk-back on men who turn to ultra-sports in their 40's, coined by James as the Abbott Syndrome and it dawned on me I am not alone as a man in his 40's discovering running.

According to James it's a worldwide phenomenon. I like to call Men-O-Pause......

On a more serious note..... mid-life crisis has been found be a myth when you look at the science, along with others like "adolescents rebellion is a normal part of development" , "violent video games lead to violence", "happy partners never argue", "opposites attract"

Heres a link to a good book on this by Scott Lilienfeld titled 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior

Here's a quote too from David Almeida, professor of human development and family studies at Pennsylvania State University specifically about the myth of the mid-life crisis

'Many people expect that midlife brings forth inevitable crisis, but that idea is not supported by social science. In fact, only 26 percent of adults older than 40 reported having a crisis, according to a recent study. That is not to say that the middle-aged do not experience challenges and psychological distress, but these feelings tend to be brought on by stressful events, such as health problems or losing a parent—not by age alone.'

So if your male and spend more time in Rebel than Woolies, if you keep showing your wife how big your calves are or drone on about your PB's, if most of the family washing in now lycra not nappies........dont worry its not a mid-life crisis...