Mid-Life Crisis Is No Longer a Single Peak, But a Gradual Struggle for Younger Adults
Moving through the challenges of the current age leaves many young adults struggling with mental health, some researchers even claim more so than previous generations did at their age. Previously, social scientists documented that people in middle age (45 to 65) were the most likely to struggle. But with a recent rise in unhappiness among millennials and Generation Z, the question becomes: who is the unhappiest of them all?
Researchers from Dartmouth College published a study in PLOS One showing that the previous peak of unhappiness in mid-life no longer stands out. Instead, it’s been overshadowed by a severe deterioration in young people’s mental health worldwide. This shift carries serious implications for public health and society.
“This is a huge change from the past when mental ill-being peaked in middle-age. The reasons for the change are disputed but our concern is that today there is a serious mental health crisis among the young that needs addressing,” said the study authors in a press release.
Mid-Life Crisis as a Statistical Regularity
A drop in well-being during middle age has long been observed, often framed in pop culture as the “midlife crisis.” Relationships, careers, and lifestyle choices can all be affected.
Yet data also shows that many rebound in later years, creating an “unhappiness hump” in graphs charting life satisfaction. First described in 2008, this pattern has since been replicated hundreds of times across countries.
Clinically, mid-life distress was reflected in higher suicide rates, substance overdoses, and psychiatric admissions, which peaked until around 2015. But are people in midlife still the most unhappy today?
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Comparing Mental Health of Different Ages
With younger generations reporting growing mental health struggles, researchers wanted to see how this compares to the well-known mid-life dip.
They analyzed surveys from 10 million U.S. adults between 1993 and 2024, plus data from 40,000 U.K. households collected between 2009 and 2023. In recent years, the mid-life “unhappiness hump” seemed to have disappeared but not because middle-aged people improved, but because younger adults reported far worse mental well-being, peaking in the early twenties. The data now shows a more linear pattern: mental health starts lowest in youth and improves steadily with age.
To test the trend globally, they turned to the Global Minds study, which surveyed two million people from 44 countries between 2020 and 2025. The results were the same: the mid-life dip has been replaced by a heavier burden on the young.
Supporting Younger Generations
Why this shift has happened isn’t certain. According to the study, possible factors include weaker job prospects, underfunded mental health care, the lingering effects of COVID-19, and rising social media use. More research is needed to confirm what’s driving the change.
What is clear are the consequences. Poor mental health is closely linked to physical health: happier people live longer, while anxiety and depression can slow recovery from illness. Among young people, distress has contributed to more hospital admissions, higher antidepressant use, and tragically, rising suicide rates.
The effects ripple into education and work. Depression and anxiety increase absenteeism and learning difficulties, hampering the skills development of the next generation. In the labor market, poor mental health leads to non-participation, affecting both productivity and economic growth.
Tracking these changes matters not just for researchers, but for policymakers and health professionals working to support a generation under unprecedented strain.
Read More: Around 25 Percent of Your Mental Health Risk Is Tied to Your Personality
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