Experts reveal why people aren’t having mid-life crises anymore and it’s pretty sad

The dreaded term 'mid-life' crisis has been thrown around for as long as we can remember to describe the mixed emotions that come with reaching the 'middle of your life'.

Although it's often referenced in a jokey way, it doesn't always mean buying a sports car or acting younger than your age - it can actually be really difficult for some people.

For those unfamiliar, essentially, between the ages of 40 and 60, we tend to be met with a period of self-reflection, questioning, and emotional turmoil. If you're within this 20 year period, you might find yourself questioning your life decisions, reminiscing on the past a lot, and generally feeling a bit down.

However, it seems like the mid-life crisis, also known as the 'unhappiness hump' may actually be on its way out - great news, right?

Well, not exactly, rather than middle aged people getting happier, it's actually down to quite a sad reason.

New research has revealed that the 'unhappiness hump' is seemingly disappearing (Getty Stock Image)

New research by Dartmouth College and University College London, which was published in PLOS One, reveals that experts think that it's disappearing due to declining mental health in younger people.

As per the Independent, the researchers said in a statement: “Ours is the first paper to show that the decline in young people's mental health in recent years means that today, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, mental ill-being is highest among the young and declines with age."

Adding: "This is a huge change from the past when mental ill-being peaked in middle-age.”

So, in short, the analysis found that you get happier as you get older in both of these countries, rather than the opposite way around.

However, the exact reasons behind the 'mid-life' crisis and 'unhappiness hump' diminishing remain unclear.

Previously, data surrounding this topic would show a 'U' shape (a hump), reflecting how wellbeing declines around the age of 50 before improving again in your later years of life.

It's also important to note that no significant changes were found among people in their late 40s and older individuals.

However, the study also found that young people are becoming unhappier, with social media cited as a potential reason (Getty Stock Image)

The data that experts analysed was taken from mental health surveys which were conducted by both the UK Household Longitudinal Study and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 10 million adults in the US and 40,000 households in the UK were involved in the mammoth study.

Specifically, researchers looked at a five year period between 2020 and 2025, which of course included the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's no secret that the pandemic caused widespread negative effects on mental health around the world, with more people suffering from depression and anxiety.

This was a cited as a reason for the change, as well as increased social media use, a lack of funding for mental health services, and impacts of the recession.

The researchers wrote: "The third hypothesis relates to the advent of smart phone technologies and the way they have impacted young people's perceptions of themselves and their lives relative to their peers' portrayal of their lives via social media.

"This new information about their lives may result in greater dissatisfaction with one's own life, in much the same way that new information about the "pay gap" between one's own pay and that of colleagues' generates increased pay dissatisfaction."

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