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

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. (March 24)