Psychoanalysis and Neo-Freudianism
jaybird
article_6.docxExistential Analysis 20.1: January 2009
Mid-Life – A Time of Crisis or New Possibilities?
Yana Weaver
Key words
Individuation, will to meaning, personal growth, lifespan development,
owning experience
Abstract
With age our knowledge, emotions and the way we behave mature. The
commonly held view of mid-life crisis is that it is an emotional state of
doubt and anxiety in which a person becomes uncomfortable with the
realization that life is half over. It is a potentially stressful period as it
usually involves reflection and re-evaluation of one’s accomplishments. It
usually occurs between the age of 35 and 50 and lasts between 3 and 10
years. This paper compares and contrasts what might be taken as Freud’s
view on middle age, Jung’s idea of individuation, Frankl’s idea of will to
meaning and Rogers’ idea of personal growth: ideas that have relevance to
middle age. It also reflects on Erikson’s and Peck’s view of middle age as
a stage in the lifespan development. This paper relates the idea of middle
life crisis with Yalom’s research on meaning in life and Spinelli’s idea of
owning experience. It argues that middle age should not necessarily be
seen as a time of crisis and loss but of growth and new possibilities.
Psychodynamic view
According to the psychodynamic view, the major psychological changes
occur during childhood. More specifically, as Freud postulated, all three
stages of psychosexual development are completed in early childhood.
Therefore, the argument follows, any crisis occurring in middle life is
caused by the ‘disorders of ego’ related to the developmental experiences
in childhood. Thus those suffering from psychogenic neurosis, caused by
the conflict of different drives and/or clashes between parts of the psyche
developed in childhood, should be treated in psychoanalysis by visiting
and resolving those early experiences. The end-goal of all activity
throughout life is the re-establishment of individual equilibrium which has
been disordered in childhood (Wood et al. 2002). Adulthood, according to
Freud, is the ‘product’ of childhood, an end point rather than a stage for
change in its own right. Freud wrote in 1907 that ‘about the age of 50 the
elasticity of the mental processes on which treatment depends is, as a rule,
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lacking. Old people are no longer educable’ (as cited in Cohen, 2006, p.1).
Freud, as Cohen noted, was 51 when he wrote this and a great deal of his
work was completed after his 65th birthday.
Jung’s individuation
While Freudians considered all crises of middle age to be linked with
childhood, Jung talked about middle life less in terms of crisis but more in
terms of an important period of growth and maturation. Furthermore, while
Freudians mostly were dealing with patients suffering from neurosis
caused by ‘disorders of ego’ and who needed to adjust to social (‘normal’)
requirements, the majority of Jung’s patients were …’socially well-adapted
individuals, often of outstanding abilities, to whom normalization means
nothing’ (Jung, as cited in Storr, 1973, p.82). So ‘crisis’ or maturation in
middle age was not aimed at achieving equilibrium between the self and
the requirements of the social world but at deepening the meaning of
existence for those individuals who have achieved success. These
individuals, as Jung stated, were suffering from …’senselessness and
aimlessness of their lives’ (as cited in Storr, 1978, p. 82). Understanding a
crisis of this nature and subsequent emergence from it would only have
some meaning to those of middle age. Individuals who have negotiated
their youth successfully have usually, according to Jung, developed one
side of themselves. They are intelligent and successful but feel something
is lacking in their inner life. For example, a good standard of living was
generally assumed to be something to aim for in twentieth century Western
Europe and America. But it appeared that more was not necessarily better
and people continued to search for something else that they described as
‘quality of life’ (Storr, 1978). Jung’s patients were disenchanted by their
wealth and prosperity. His idea was that through ‘Individuation’ –
integration of wholeness, serenity and harmony within himself and
cultivation of the inner self – one overcomes middle life crisis (Storr,
1978). To be able to reach those aspects of self that have been neglected,
Jung suggested, one needs (in analytical therapy with the help of the
analyst) to consider the personal underlying values. All people have them –
they are influenced by the collective assumptions and the dominant way of
life of the culture they belong to. Apart from exploration and re-evaluation
of these values and exploration of dreams and phantasies, individuation
also means a conscious acceptance of the whole balanced self - neither
neglecting nor overdeveloping any part of the self. A person who achieves
this state does not get emotionally puzzled any more and does not negate
any part of his/her nature. An essential part of this new integration-of-self
attitude is acceptance and preparation for death. By understanding and
accepting self, others and most of all by preparing for death, one accepts
and acknowledges that this awareness is more important than a good 70
Mid-Life – A Time of Crisis or New Possibilities?
material standard of living. Jung describes it as a ‘religious’ attitude,
although a person who achieved this does not have to belong to any
religion; it is a spiritual quest (Storr, 1978). Jung did not think that all
people go through the process of individuation. Only those whose
consciousness is overdeveloped and who have been detached from their
unconsciousness can be encouraged in analytical therapy to take this
journey. Neurotics who suffer from weak ego (typically Freudian patients)
should not be tempted towards this kind of thinking (Storr, 1978). For the
same reason, individuation does not have much relevance for young
people. Although Jung’s ideas related to individuation are generated
through his self-analysis and analysis of his rather particular group of
patients, some of Jung’s followers would argue that individuation is a
natural development process which everyone undergoes for the most part
unconsciously (Storr, 1978).
Some existentialists’ views
Viktor Frankl, the existential therapist, challenged the psychodynamic
view that a determined end-goal of all activity throughout life is the reestablishment
of individual equilibrium. Frankl did not see people as
mainly trying to gratify their drives and satisfy their instincts in order to
maintain or restore their inner equilibrium. He thought that people are
oriented towards the world of potential meanings and values (Frankl,
1967). Frankl, as did Jung, also talked about the existential emptiness of
people. A cross-sectional survey conducted at a Vienna Hospital in the
1960s, showed that 55% of those screened (both neurological and
psychotherapeutic patients) expressed signs of existential frustration. More
than half of those stated that they had experienced the feeling that life is
meaningless (Frankl, 1967). This existential vacuum, as he called it, may
be explained by the instincts and traditions that have been lost by man in
the process of becoming a truly human being. Some basic animal
behaviour patterns have been lost for ever and man no longer relies on
instinctive responses; he has to make choices. More recently, tradition is
no longer a powerful guide to what he ought to do. Very often he does not
know what he wishes to do. Instead, as Frankl suggested, he conforms to
the wishes of others (wishes to do what others do) or behaves in a
totalitarian manner and does what others tell him to do (Frankl, 1959).
Existential vacuum is usually expressed as boredom with life. Although in
constant race against time, we see how people lack ideas about how to add
some spiritual experience in their free time. Technological progress, the
reduction in the number of working hours and the increase in leisure time,
Frankl predicted, would create a society in which people would not know
what to do with their newly acquired free time. As an example of this,
Frankl mentioned ‘Sunday neurosis’, a type of depression affecting people 71
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who lack content in their lives when the busy week is over (Frankl, 1959).
Frankl did not talk about a mid-life crisis as such but by talking of ‘Sunday
neurosis’, ‘the neurosis of unemployment’ and ‘the psychological crisis of
retirement and ageing people’ he implied that the search for meaning
became paramount at a certain level of maturity. Frankl noted how people
think about their survival only when under immediate threat. But when
continued survival is not threatened, people look for meaning in life.
Frankl emphasised the importance for people of the ‘will to meaning’ or
finding a sense of purpose in life. The sense of purpose in life must be
constructed by each person on their own at a given moment. Further, the
meaning of each individual life is not something to be invented but
discovered in potentialities which are to be found in the world rather than
within oneself. He emphasised the objectivity of this endeavour and
responsibility with which each individual should respond to the questions
of life. He stresses …’that the true meaning of life is to be discovered in
the world rather than within man or his own psyche…’ (Frankl, 1959,
p.115). One way, suggested by Frankl, in which personal meaning may be
sought is through actions, in particular creative activity. Other ways are
through experience of nature, through art or experiencing love. But the
meaning of existence is not fulfilled by creative activity only. In a situation
of unavoidable difficulty and tragic circumstances of suffering, pain and
guilt, meaning may be found in fortitude (Wood et al., 2002). For those
troubled with noögenic neurosis (caused by an existential vacuum) Frankl
recommended logo-therapy, a therapy that explores man’s search for
meaning in which the role of the existential therapist is to be with the client
on their journey of discovery of their own meaning. As Frankl put it
…’what matters is not the meaning of man’s life in general….one can
search only for the concrete meaning of personal existence, a meaning
which changes from man to man, from day to day, from hour to hour’
(Frankl, 1967 p.57).
Yalom also emphasised the idea that search for meaning is intrinsic to
our existence and that it needs to be discovered rather than given. One of
the reasons why people need meaning is that it creates values which in
return confirm one’s sense of meaning (Yalom, 1980). Common values
bind people together and form a shared belief system which tells
individuals what they ought to do. But the meaning of life is intertwined
and masked with other existential anxieties about isolation, freedom and
death. In the case of death anxiety, one of the arguments that Yalom
follows is that human beings wish to transcend death and leave something
behind that matters. Like Frankl, Yalom does not say explicitly that these
concerns are related to middle-aged people only but he illustrated this
particular idea with a case study of a patient of his – a 55-year-old
composer whose forthcoming birthday made him contemplate the meaning
of life – implying that these concerns are more natural at this stage of life. 72
Mid-Life – A Time of Crisis or New Possibilities?
The notion of ‘self’, whether in the middle or any other stage of life, as
understood by the existential-phenomenological model is always
constructed through a particular experience (Spinelli, 1994). Each person
also develops strong (sedimented) beliefs that are the building blocks of
self. These beliefs are complex: not just personally, but culturally and
socially derived. They are sometimes irrational and distorted but always
very strong and it is difficult to change their interpretative power. Usually
when there is incongruence between the believed and experienced self, a
person is faced with choice; either to embrace the experience or to find
some way of alienating it or, as Spinelli put it, ‘disowning’ it (by for
example ‘forgetting’ it or avoiding reflecting on it). In many cases in order
to maintain the status quo, preserve the self-construct and maintain the
position in their social world, people tend to go with the latter option and
avoid reflection. In the therapeutic setting, in the process of creating ‘a
new’ self, people sometimes undermine the importance of their relations to
others. Any changes in fundamental beliefs of any individual could have
consequences for the relationships of that individual on both a personal and
social level. If the client does not consider the implications of changes of
their self-construct for their relationships with others, as Spinelli
suggested, usually one set of disowned self constructs is replaced with
another equally ‘disowned’. Examples of this, Spinelli noted, could be seen
in many cases of ‘mid-life crisis’. Instead of exploring changes that
brought about this ‘crisis’ and trying to accept them and ‘own’ them, a
client would replace one set of self-constructs with another, neither being
congruent with his experience (Spinelli, 1994). What Spinelli suggests, it
seems to me, is that to negotiate a mid-life crisis successfully does not
require the individual to make changes in order to construct a new ‘self’
but to face, explore and accept experiences that mid-life brings and make
an effort in owning them. Reflecting on Spinelli’s presentation of the self
being constructed through personally and socially developed sedimented
beliefs, it would be interesting to explore to what extent a ‘crisis’ of
middle age might be viewed as a socio-cultural construct itself and how
many people ‘feel’ it because it is an idea that has been internalized by
their culture or society.
Rogers’ personal growth
Similarly to Frankl, Carl Rogers, one of the founders of the humanistic
approach to psychotherapy, explored some existential questions that people
ask themselves such as ‘What is my goal in life?’, ‘What am I striving
for?’ and ‘What is my purpose?’ These are the questions that every
individual asks himself at one time or another, some calmly and some in
agonizing uncertainty (Rogers, 1961). Rogers also stated that each
individual must answer these questions in his own way. In Rogers’ 73
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writings, they were not explicitly linked to middle age, but as generally
people tend to ask themselves these kinds of questions when they are free
to choose, it could be taken that they are more common later in life. Rogers
postulated that people’s behaviour is goal-oriented but instead of libido
being the driving force, there is a basic tendency towards developing their
potentials or tendency for ‘personal growth’. From his counselling
experience, Rogers noted that people embark on the process of personal
growth not only through action but also by moving away from a part of
their self with which they are not content. Rogers, as Frankl did, noted that
many people did not know what they wish to do, but knew that they
needed to move away from something. Rogers noted that through clientcentred
therapy, people gradually become more aware of their own
situation, more open to experience and changes, accepting others and
trusting the self. This process of ‘becoming a person’ is never completed –
it continues throughout life (Rogers, 1961). Thus it could be said that
middle age for Rogers represents a stage in the developmental process
when confronting the existential questions related to personal growth.
Something positive?
Erik Erikson, a neo-Freudian, also considered that psychological
development continued throughout life. He suggested that each stage of a
person’s life requires the resolution of an issue which could be, if
negotiated properly, turned into a ‘virtue’. Each stage is built on what has
gone before and becomes a part of that person’s ego development (Wood
et al. 2002). So crisis is present in the form of a major ‘issue’ that needs to
be resolved in all stages of lifespan development. Erikson considered
middle adulthood (40-65 years) to be characterized by the concern about
the legacy one will leave behind and growing awareness of mortality.
Those who negotiate these concerns in a healthy way are ‘generative’ -
they care about others and issues outside themselves. Those who do not
negotiate these issues in a healthy way remain focused on their own needs
and become self-absorbed (Wood et al. 2002). Although Erikson’s theory
was one of the very few which made explicit the role of development in
later life, he considered that most developmental changes occur in
adolescence. The primary concern of middle age is coming to terms with
death.
Peck (as cited in Wood et al. 2002) argued that this view was too narrow
to account for all the issues that are of concern in the last forty years of
life. To address this, Peck attempted to characterize the crisis of middle life
in more detail. One area of potential crisis is when one values physical
powers more highly than the wisdom that come with age. There is the need
to come to terms with a loss of physical strength. But at the same time
people gain (one hopes) wisdom in dealing with self and others. According 74
Mid-Life – A Time of Crisis or New Possibilities?
to Peck, it is wrong to deal with life problems by relying on physical
capability. Another area of crisis could be if one fails to redefine partners
in terms of their personality rather than viewing them as sexual partners
only. Another relationship crisis is related to the ability to make new
emotional bonds when children leave home and parents die. The fourth and
final crisis of middle age, according to Peck, occurs if people fail to keep a
flexible and open attitude to life; very often people of middle age are
closed to new ideas (Wood et al. 2002). All these issues are viewed as
potential sources of crisis but also, if negotiated well, they can be seen as
opportunities for satisfaction and personal growth. By looking at mid-life
issues in more detail, Peck actually viewed later life positively.
Yalom also supports Erikson’s idea of the life developmental cycle. He
mentioned George Vaillant’s longitudinal study to illustrate how people’s
concerns from the age of 45 onwards are more long term and selftranscending
rather than being personal and self-centred, characteristic of
adolescence and early adulthood.
Cohen (2006) also thinks that growing old could be filled with positive
experiences. The challenge is to recognise it and nurture it. Only 10% of
middle aged people, Cohen found in the research he conducted (2006),
described middle life as a time of crisis. Far more said that they felt more
secure and eager to follow a new sense of quest and personal discovery.
They thought that they could use the knowledge and experience they had
gained to organize their life in a more creative way.
Does culture play a part?
Theories about meaning of life and midlife crisis are culturally specific
rather than universal. Erikson and Peck’s remarks about life span
development are based on Western concepts of when people retire, their
children leave home and when they stop having sex. While there is
evidence that sexual activity declines with age, some evidence also
suggests that it could play an important role in people’s relationships well
into their 70s and beyond (Wood et al, 2002). Further, there is a vast
difference between western and eastern attitudes to nature and by
implication to life. Yalom points out that the westerners’ view is analytical
and objective in contrast to the oriental view which is subjective and
integrative. While the western world considers past and present as
preparation for a ‘point’ in the future which is always goal-oriented, the
eastern world never assumes that there is a problem in life that needs to be
solved: …’instead, life is a mystery to be lived’ (Yalom, 1980). Within the
western world, views on the purpose of life have changed a great deal
through history. The early Christians valued contemplation above all else,
while the Calvinists, whose theological system has influenced the West’s
ideas towards the purpose of life ever since, valued hard work. Those who 75
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do not fit in feel guilty and worthless (Yalom, 1980). The differences are
evident within contemporary culture as well. Frankl referred to a survey
revealing that 25% of his European students said they were to a degree in
an ‘existential vacuum’, while amongst his American students it was 60%
(Frankl, 1959). In his book ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ he made this
distinction again by saying ‘…to the European, it is a characteristic of the
American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to
‘be happy’’ (Frankl, 1959, p140). But happiness, as Frankl put it, can not
be pursued but can only be a by-product when a reason to be happy is
found. It seems that some form of mid-life crisis occurs when people see
their lives in terms of their expectations and missed potentialities, but in
this process of reflection, they tend to overlook the valuable contributions
they made in the past. Frankl mentioned how these ‘realised values’ in the
past are neglected when ‘measuring’ how useful a person is to society. As
he put it …’today’s society is characterized by achievement orientation,
and consequently it adores people who are successful and happy and in
particular, it adores the young.’ (Frankl, 1959, p. 152). Frankl’s study of
existential vacuum in the sixties and Cohen’s recent study on mid-life
crisis have different results. The question is whether this is due to a general
maturation of western society, or perhaps the same phenomenon has been
looked at in a different way; Frankl focused on negative experience of
ageing while Cohen’s survey highlighted positive experience. Further,
most of the research on this subject has been focused on the male life cycle
and the results have been generalized to the whole population. Yalom
referred to a recent feminist study offering an important corrective of this
view. Middle-aged women, having devoted the first half of their lives to
their families, have different desires (from their middle-aged male
counterparts) for the second half of life. While traditionally men become
more altruistic at this stage of their life, having achieved success, women
now have their first experience of having time for themselves since
marriage (Yalom, 1980).
Ageing brings losses and challenges. By accepting inevitable losses and
embracing challenges one can find ways to reach individual potential and
in the process maintain physical and mental health. Erikson’s theory of
lifespan psychological changes and Frankl’s ideas of striving for deeper
meanings resonate with my own experience of middle age. An interesting
area for more research would be to investigate the positive experience of
ageing. Knowledge and experience gained through ageing brings spiritual
maturity and serenity, which can benefit not just the individual but also
societies as a whole – ‘happy’ people are productive people. The
alternative seems to me unproductive and unnecessarily bleak.
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Mid-Life – A Time of Crisis or New Possibilities?
Conclusion
While most psychodynamic theorists see middle life as a product of
childhood, some, such as Erikson and Peck, consider it to be a stage in the
lifespan development. Reflection and re-evaluation of one’s
accomplishments does not have to be seen necessarily as a time of crisis
and negative experience. Facing existential questions, usually associated
with the middle stage of life, is not easy; it often entails conflicts between
what one is and what one should or could be (or between one’s beliefs and
experience), but it also opens up new possibilities. It could be said that
growth and maturation underlie existentialist and humanistic ideas
associated with search for meanings: Jung’s individuation, Frankl’s will to
meaning and Rogers’ personal growth. But the good things of middle life
do not just happen; the meanings should be actively searched for through
creative work, experience of love and fortitude and acceptance and
‘owning’ of the whole self. In doing so, I believe, one can come closer to
achieve one’s own individuation, deepen the meaning of one’s own
existence and continue one’s own process of personal growth.
Yana Weaver has a background in economics and psychology. She is
currently in the second year of a Doctorate course in Counselling
Psychology at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology,
Regent's College, London.
An earlier version of this paper was originally submitted as a course
requirement essay at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling
Psychology, Regent's College, London. I am very grateful to Tony Babarik,
my tutor at the time, for his suggestion to submit the paper for publication.
77
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Frankl, V. (1967). Psychotherapy and Existentialism. New York: Simon
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Rogers, C.R. (1961). On Becoming a Person. London: Constable &
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Spinelli, E. (1994). Demystifying Therapy. London: Constable and
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Storr, A. (1973). Jung. London, Fontana.
Wood, C., Littleton, K. and Oates, J. (2002). Lifespan development. In
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