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Middle-age 'truly depressing'
29/01/2008 15:22 - (SA)
London - Middle-age is truly miserable,
according to a study using data from 80 countries showing that
depression is most common among men and women in their forties.
The British and US researchers found that happiness for
people ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe follows a U-shaped curve
where life begins cheerful before turning tough during middle
age and then returning to the joys of youth in the golden years.
Previous studies have shown that psychological well-being
remained flat throughout life but the new findings to be
published in the journal Social Science & Medicine suggest we
are in for a topsy-turvy emotional ride.
"In a remarkably regular way throughout the world people
slide down a U-shaped level of happiness and mental health
throughout their lives," Andrew Oswald at Britain's Warwick
University, who co-led the study, said on Tuesday.
The researchers analysed data on depression, anxiety levels
and general mental health and well-being taken from some two
million people in 80 countries.
Slowly builds
For men and women the probability of depression slowly
builds and then peaks when people are in their forties - a
similar pattern found in 72 countries ranging from Albania to
Zimbabwe, the researchers said.
About eight nations - mostly in the developing world - did
not follow the U-shaped pattern for happiness levels, Oswald and
his colleague David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College in the
United States wrote.
"It happens to men and women, to single and married people,
to rich and poor, and to those with and without children,"
Oswald said. "Nobody knows why we see this consistency."
One possibility may be that people realize they won't
achieve many of their aspirations at middle age, the researchers
said.
Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow
middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own
remaining years and embrace life once more.
But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and
are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and
mentally healthy as a 20-year old.
"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in
mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a
single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people
emerge from this low period."
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