Women on average are most miserable in the U.S. when they hit 40; men, when they hit 50. Across 70 countries American and British researchers found that if life has a blue period, it hits in middle age. As Scientific American reports, it may have something to do with the slow realization that one’s youthful aspirations – to direct a movie, to do something meaningful – are not going to happen, and that one has compromised on simply getting by. The researchers did find that most people emerged from this funk in their 70s with the zest of a 20-year old, but, alas, minus the flexibility or endurance.
