Women's New Mid-Life Crisis?

I’m not gonna lie. Today, after hearing this on NPR and reading about it in the Huffington Post, I ordered the brand new book by Ada Calhoun, “Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Mid-life Crisis.”

In 2017, The author, a Gen X-er herself, wrote this article about the pervasive sleep troubles, auto-immune problems, and general malaise among Gen X women for Oprah Magazine, which promptly went viral. Her book (Click here to order), which does not examine the experiences of low income or wealthy women, struck a chord among middle class women.

Per Huffington Post:

“It turns out, Calhoun discovered, Gen X women are some of the best-educated women in history, but have more debt than any other age group. Gen X women are downwardly mobile, with most of the generation having less wealth than their parents. They are raising children later, and at the same time caring for their parents, all while going through perimenopause. 

It’s no wonder Gen X women are sad, anxious ― and not sleeping.”

In addition, Calhoun also attributes the laissez-faire (i.e., neglectful, abusive, inattentive) parenting many Gen-X women experienced as children, as linked to women’s pervasive funk as adults today.

In my experience as a therapist and Gen-X woman, so much of this rings true.

As always, feel free to reach out via email or in the comments below. I’ll write up my thoughts after I read the book.

Wishing you all rest and serenity and peace.