[Midlife crisis in men? Subjectively perceived physical and mental changes in men of advancing age]

What changes physically and mentally in men with increasing age? Does satisfaction with life only decrease? The personal subjective perception of the situation plays a decisive role in this assessment. One compares oneself to the past and to others, notices the illnesses of others and monitors oneself.

To study this problem, 85 men between the ages of 40 and 65 years were anonymously questioned by letter. The men filled out two questionnaires: one on change of life and virility symptoms (KLV) and a second on satisfaction with life (FLZ). The respondents were divided into three age groups: 40-47 (n = 26), 48-55 (n = 33) and 56-65 (n = 26) years old.

The most frequent mental changes were related to concentration disorders (72.9%), tiredness (70.6%), increased irritability (65.9%) and a failing memory (63.5%). For physical changes, joint and limb pain (77.6%) were named the most frequently, followed by back pain (68.2%), the diminishing interest in sex (62.6%) and weight gain (55.0%). Whereas the rating of many criteria in the 40 to 47-year olds did not differ from that of the 56 to 65-year olds, the satisfaction with life in the 48 to 55-year olds in regards to leisure time, partner relationship, personal sexuality, satisfaction with oneself and social integration was lower.

In summary, many areas of a man's life become destabilized at around age 50. Nevertheless, men are able to adapt to their changed physical and mental abilities and qualitatively reorient themselves.