Elizabeth has had enough of life as a City lawyer. Now, in her mid-thirties, she has decided¹ to change careers. “Life is short,” she says, wincing² at the cliché.

伊丽莎白(Elizabeth)受够了在伦敦金融城当律师的工作，年届35岁的她决定转行。为此她颇为感慨地说了一句老掉牙的话：“人生短暂！”

As the first person in her family to make it to university, Elizabeth – who does not want to use her real name – had felt obliged to follow through with a sensible profession. Her twenties were consumed by office all-nighters, finding her way and proving herself. When she hit her thirties, while the hours continued to be punishing, she felt able to lift her nose from the grindstone and evaluate her career. “I am not as engaged in my work as my peers,” she reflects. To make partner she would have to crank up her commitment – and she just cannot bear to do that. So in her spare time she studies psychology³, in anticipation⁴ of switching professional tracks.

作为家里第一个上大学的孩子，伊丽莎白（她不希望用自己的真名）感到有必要从事一份“现实”的职业。在20岁到30岁这段时期，她经常加夜班，兢兢业业地工作，努力证明自己的能力。步入而立之年后，虽然工作依然忙碌，但她觉得可以缓一口气，评估一下自己的职业。她若有所思地说道：“我不像其他同事那样投入工作了。”如果她想成为合伙人，就要更加拼命，而她就是受不了这么拼命。因此她在闲暇时间学习心理学，期待有朝一日能够转行。

She admits to feelings that border on depression but views them as a “productive indication” that she no longer wants to be a lawyer and desires a job with “more meaning”. A “midlife crisis” is how she views it.

她承认自己濒临抑郁，但认为这样的情绪是“有益的暗示”，表明自己不想再当律师了，而是想要一份“更有意义”的工作。她认为这是一种“中年危机”。

“Midlife crisis” is not a clinical disorder⁵. However, Dr Michael Sinclair, a consultant⁶ psychologist based in the City, has observed increasing numbers of thirtysomethings experiencing profound anxiety about their career choices and lives. “These are problems more commonly associated with people in their mid-forties thinking about mortality. They are coming out of recession, a period of being single-minded. They are burnt out and asking ‘what’s the point of work?’”

“中年危机”并非一种临床上的疾病。然而，在伦敦金融城工作的咨询心理学家迈克尔•辛克莱博士(Dr Michael Sinclair)发现，在30多岁这个群体中，越来越多的人对自己的职业选择和生活深感焦虑。“这些问题在45岁左右的人身上更为常见，这个年龄的人会思考人必有一死这样的问题。人们刚刚经历了经济衰退——那是一个必须老老实实工作的时期。现在他们感到疲倦不堪，自问‘工作的意义是什么？’”

Louise Matthews, a work and lifestyle blogger and former personal assistant in recruitment and insurance, believes that the “midlife crisis is beginning earlier these days”. She suggests it could be “because we have too much choice and information coming”, which can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction but also paralysis⁷. “It can be pretty overwhelming.”

经常写有关工作与生活的博客、曾在招聘和保险行当做过个人助理的路易斯•马修斯(Louise Matthews)认为，“如今中年危机开始得更早了”。她表示，这可能是“因为我们有太多的选择和信息”，从而导致不满足感，但同时也让人麻木。“它可能会把人压垮。”

The notion of a midlife crisis, is contentious⁸. Coined in 1965 by Elliot Jaques, a psychologist, he described it as “the adult encounter with the conception of life to be lived in the setting of an approaching personal death”. In popular mythology⁹ it is generally characterised by fortysomething men swapping¹⁰ families and jobs for sports cars, hair plugs and young girlfriends – all rather silly.

“中年危机”的概念存在争议。心理学家埃利奥特•雅克(Elliot Jaques)在1965年发明了这个词，他将其描述为“成年人遇到了人生的概念，人生就是个体在不断接近的死亡到来前度过的那段时间”。按照流行的观念，它通常的特征是四十多岁的人不惜牺牲家庭和工作来换取跑车、植发和年轻女友——都是相当愚蠢的事。

However, research published earlier this year found an average midlife dip in happiness – or subjective¹¹ wellbeing as it is described by economists¹² – happened between 40 and 42. Professor Nattavudh Powdthavee, co-author of the longitudinal research across three countries, says this confirms previous studies that show a hill-shape relationship between age and the use of antidepressants. It builds on research, published in 2012, that found chimpanzees and orang-utans also experience a U-shape in happiness (as reported by zookeepers rather than the apes themselves). Prof Powdthavee says this suggests there could be biological explanations behind the midlife nadir¹³. He sees this as a reason to be optimistic. “When you know this, you can go through the period thinking at some point it will get better.”

然而，今年早些时候发表的研究结果显示，中年人幸福感——或者说是经济学家所称的“主观幸福感”(subjective well-being)——下降一般发生在40岁到42岁之间。纳塔武•鲍德塔威(Nattavudh Powdthavee)表示，这证实了以前的研究结果，即年龄与抗抑郁药的使用存在“山型曲线”的关系。鲍德塔威与人合作在3个国家开展了这项纵向研究，该研究基于2012年发表的一项研究结果，即黑猩猩和猩猩的幸福感也经历了U型曲线（这是由动物管理员而不是猩猩自己报告的）。鲍德塔威表示，这表明中年低谷背后可能有生物学上的原因。他认为这个发现给了人们乐观的理由。“当你知道这一点的时候，你就可以想，总有一天会好起来的，从而安然度过这一时期。”

Mid-life crises can manifest themselves in different ways. “It is a transitionary phase,” says Dr Derek Milne, a psychologist from Newcastle University and author of Coping With a Mid-Life Crisis. “It can be intermittent¹⁴ or express itself as vague disquiet¹⁵.”

中年危机可能有不同的表现形式。英国纽卡斯尔大学(Newcastle University)的心理学家德里克•米尔恩博士(Dr Derek Milne)表示：“这是一个过渡阶段。它可能是间歇性的，或者表现为隐约的心神不宁。”米尔恩博士著有《如何应对中年危机》(Coping With a Mid-Life Crisis)一书。

Dr Hannes Schwandt of Princeton University believes midlife, unlike infancy¹⁶ and old age, is under-researched. Last year, he published research focused on “unmet expectations”. It found the young are optimistic – perhaps even “over-optimistic” – while those in their forties and fifties feel regret, before making their peace in older age. “Perhaps people in middle age can learn from the elderly who feel less regret and have adapted,” he suggests.

普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)的汉内斯•施万特博士(Dr Hannes Schwandt)认为，与针对儿童和老年人的研究不同，有关中年的研究明显不足。去年他发表了关于“未实现的期望”的研究报告。该报告发现，年轻人很乐观——甚至是“过度乐观”——而四五十岁的人总是抱有遗憾，然后再老一些才会内心平和。他表示：“或许中年人可以向那些不再怀有强烈遗憾心理、已经适应现实的老年人学习。”

The fallout from midlife malaise might make people less productive, notes Dr Schwandt. Employers might therefore want to take note. “It could improve peoples’ wellbeing if we acknowledged the problem,” he says.

施万特博士指出，中年危机的影响可能导致人们的劳动效率下降。为此雇主可能会重视这个问题。他说：“如果我们承认这个问题，就有可能提高人们的幸福感。”

Jodie Rogers, a careers coach, says work is a source of crisis for her middle-aged¹⁸ clients. “They ask themselves what legacy¹⁹ they are leaving behind. They start to feel bad about feeling discontented. They have a job and pay cheque, they don’t know if they have the right to seek more. There is a real tug²⁰ of war between the feeling they should be satisfied with their life and wanting to do something more meaningful.”

职业指导顾问乔迪•罗杰斯(Jodie Rogers)表示，对她的那些中年客户来说，工作是一个危机感的源头。“他们问自己能给后世留下什么。这种不满足感开始让他们感到不安。他们有工作，有薪水，但不知道是否有权寻求更多。他们左右为难，不知道是应该安于现状，还是应该做一些更有意义的事情。”

Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, and author of Happiness by Design, believes we need a mix of purpose and pleasure in order to feel truly happy. In a forthcoming paper, he argues that much of the economic literature on midlife crises focuses on our evaluations²¹ of what makes us happy rather than our actual experiences. In other words, the stories we tell ourselves about what makes us happy – that a prestigious²² job is good – even if our day-to-day experience of the work makes us miserable²³.

伦敦政治经济学院(LSE)的行为科学教授保罗•多兰(Paul Dolan)著有《设计幸福》(Happiness by Design)一书，他认为，要真正感到幸福，我们既要怀着目标，也要保持心情愉悦。他在一篇即将发表的论文中提出，许多关于中年危机的经济学文献聚焦于我们自认为的幸福理由，而不是我们实际的体验。比如说，我们告诉自己，体面的工作让我们感到幸福，即便实际上我们的日常工作让我们感到痛苦。

Other experts, however, dismiss any connection between age and crisis. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, sees age as a “social construct, highly dependent on the individual”. The attraction of seeing midlife as a period prone²⁴ to crisis, she says is akin¹⁷ to horoscopes: “It gives you certainty. It gives an excuse and an expectation.”

然而，有些专家对年龄和危机存在联系的说法不以为然。马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校(University of Massachusetts Amherst)的苏珊•克劳斯•惠特伯恩(Susan Krauss Whitbourne)教授认为，年龄是一种“社会建构，在很大程度上取决于个人”。她表示，认为中年容易出现危机的说法具有像星座学说一样的吸引力：“它带给你确定感，提供一种借口，一种预期。”

She does, however, think that today, more people want to express their true sense of self in their job.

然而，惠特伯恩也认为，如今更多的人希望在工作中展现对自我的真实感知。

Elizabeth agrees – she says her parents are baffled by her career dissatisfaction: “They say it is a luxury of my generation. They never thought of enjoying their careers – they just got on with it.”

伊丽莎白对此表示赞同，她说，父母不理解自己为何对职业感到不满：“他们说，职业满足感是我们这代人的奢侈品。他们从未想过在职业上获得享受，他们只是按部就班地工作。”

Many people, says Prof Whitbourne, fantasise about dramatically quitting their jobs. But, she says, “it is better to make baby steps towards a change”.

惠特伯恩表示，许多人幻想着突然辞职。但她表示，“一点一点地做出改变会更好”。

Dr Sinclair agrees: “People can be too goal-focused. They have ticked off making money and career goals, and wonder what next?” He helps them to understand life is not about ticking off their goals but living by their values. Rather than resign, they may find that making small changes in their jobs, for example collaborating²⁵ with colleagues or mentoring²⁶ a junior employee, can make work feel more meaningful.

辛克莱对此表示赞同：“人们可能过于看重目标，在完成赚钱和职业方面的目标后，他们不知道下一个目标是什么？”辛克莱帮助人们明白，人生的意义不在于完成一堆目标，而是要活出价值来。与其辞职，还不如在工作中做出小改变，比如与同事合作或者指导初级员工，这可能让人觉得工作更有意义。