Turning Forty in the Eighties: Personal Crisis, Time for Change - Softcover

Clarity informs this fine work of popular psychology; Nichols, director of outpatient psychiatry at Albany (N.Y.) Medical School, is a direct, jargon-free writer. He begins by noting that most people experience some sort of midlife crisis around age 40, and those now turning 40 have a special problem: their world is very different from the one in which their expectations were formed. Ours is a world of shrinking economic possibilities, where people must become accustomed to less; a world of changing sex roles, which create particular difficulties for women; and, as the computer revolution continues, the aging have increased feelings of obsolescence and isolation. After examining these factors, Nichols discusses the difficulties of turning 40 in any era and provides suggestions on accommodations that can be made.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Psychotherapist Nichols offers a com petent, if unexciting, analysis of mid life crisis. He details the familiar ele ments for both men and women: realizing that life is half over, letting go of youthful dreams, readjusting ca reer goals, looking for outward solu tions rather than facing inner causes. Nichols's treatment differs in that he emphasizes family interactions more than most. He explores how children leaving home or the wife returning to work upsets an uneasy balance that masked unacknowledged and/or un solved problems, and precipitates a crisis in the individual or the couple. He also urges acceptance of one's par ents as a first step toward resolving a crisis. Recommended for collections that need more on the topic. Marga ret B. Allen, formerly with Bennington Free Lib., Vt.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.