Apparently apes have midlife crisis as well.
Chimpanzees and orangutans go through a phase of life similar to what is known as a midlife crisis in humans.
According to recent study, the graph of human and great ape personal well being in their lifetimes look strikingly similar.
It is U shaped with a higher sense of happiness and contentment with life in the younger and older years of life, and a progressively lower level of happiness in the middle, commonly referred to as a midlife crisis.
This affects both human’s and ape’s social behavior in this time.
The study abstract says: “Our results imply that human well-being's curved shape is not uniquely human and that, although it may be partly explained by aspects of human life and society, its origins may lie partly in the biology we share with great apes.”
A Canadian psychologist named Elliot Jacques came up with the term midlife crisis to explain the deep realization of mortality that people in the developed world experience around the age of 35.
It can be triggered by a number of things including the death of one’s parents, and characterized by irrational or drastic life decisions.
