It affects up to 20% of us in our 40s and 50s, but… could a midlife crisis be the making of you?

What do you think of when you imagine a midlife crisis? Men in their 50s splashing out on a sports car? Women getting their first tattoo or dyeing their hair bright pink? It might sound stereotypical, but there’s nothing like the fear of ageing to make you do something outrageous. But it affects everyone differently, and even celebs can have a midlife blip.

Former boxer David Haye recently admitted he might be having a midlife crisis, amid his party lifestyle and throuple relationship. And it’s rumoured that Reese Witherspoon’s recent split from her husband of 12 years was fuelled by his midlife crisis. According to a new report, the pandemic triggered a second midlife crisis in many over 50s. But does a blip in our 40s or 50s need to spell disaster? Is it possible to embrace it and come out stronger than ever? Woman investigates…

‘I STARTED RE-EVALUATING MY LIFE’

Linzi Kavanagh, 46, is a divorce coach and lives in Glasgow.

After I got married and had kids, my life just seemed to be racing by. My 30s were consumed with being a stay-at-home mum and running a house, and I had little time for myself. Then, after 16 years of marriage, in 2018, my husband and I separated and started going through a divorce.

Suddenly, life as I knew it changed and I felt like I was back out in the world on my own. Our children, then 12, 10 and eight, were obviously my first priority, but the pressure of figuring out how to juggle finding work, while still being a good mum, was anxiety inducing.

It wasn’t only the practical side of things that got to me, though. I also started re-evaluating my life and questioning who I was. For so long I’d been a wife and a mother, and I wondered what had happened to Linzi – I needed to discover who she was now, the woman who loved walking on the beach and dancing at gigs. I felt completely lost and as though my whole identity was unravelling.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised I was having a midlife crisis. There was so much in life I still wanted to achieve, like finding a job I loved, being financially independent, and buying my own home, but I felt like time was against me. I was convinced my best years were behind me, so did this mean it was all downhill from here? I was in my 40s, single and unemployed. My life was a mess, but I knew that I needed to turn my mess into magic.

Always a big reader, I decided to