How to Survive Your Husband's Midlife Crisis

When your life is falling in the toilet, or you fear it is, practical guides are a means of survival. This book offers you more than something to read as you wait for your counseling session (couples or your individual appointment), meeting with your lawyer, or to toss angrily at a slammed door -- it shows you that you can make it through this.

While it's true that this book will neither stop a partner running with scissors in the hallways of your marriage, nor will it even tell you for certain that this running about is due to a midlife crisis, what it does is give you a sane place to rest your weary head.

While I am not facing this challenge in my life (I have a young pup, remember?), I found it to be full of facts that are worthy of repeating, especially at times like this -- most importantly, you are not to blame for his midlife crisis.

It does address personal accountability -- even if the son of a bitch does cheat on you 'because of' his midlife crisis, which is all 'him,' you'll need to decide what you are going to do about it. And that's all you.

How to Survive Your Husband's Midlife Crisis

The book offers ways to view the problem, strategies for coping, and proof that you are not crazy or alone. But it does not advocate what you should do as far as stay & help him or get rid of him. This man may be a midlife crisis cliche, but he's your midlife crisis cliche & as such, only you know what you need, what you can live with (or without).

In other words, the book has no agenda, no mission. Not even against 'the enemy' -- for included in the book, are the thoughts of men -- men who know because they are having or had a midlife crisis. Sometimes their thoughts were insipid, but then that's not the book's fault -- these self-absorbed creatures are what they are. Perhaps they echo your man's insipid point of view. Or maybe they clarify things for you. No matter what they do, you'll see that most of these men are floundering. So don't let them have control over you. Don't let their floundering bring you down. Maybe the ship is going down, but you need not be a casualty too.

Another reason this book is worth the price to keep it on your shelf, is the other peripheral info offered. Since his midlife crisis will accompany depression as well as anger, there are plenty of resources, professional advice, & tips from personal survivors on how to identify the problems & deal with them. His & yours. Yes, your own depression, as well as his. Your anger, along with his.

Your anger & depression may be over his blowing your family's meager savings on some super-sized boy-toys, it may come from his philandering penis, his rogue & fickle heart, his avoidance of your children, or it may come from the unanticipated reactions of others. (Yes, you might be blindsided by family & friends, people you'd expect to be on your side, who blame you for all his craziness.) This book helps you see the pitfalls, and ways around or through them.

His anger & depression may lead to abuse -- verbal, emotional &/or physical. And this book devotes many pages to how to see it, and perhaps more importantly, how to take it seriously & deal with it.

With such a wide range of emotions on all sides, it's no wonder to me that these issues are covered so well. But I was impressed to see them here.

In fact, this book is so super in recognizing how his crisis impacts you, even if your partner isn't crazy due to a midlife crisis -- if he's just a no-good-low-down-cheating-asshole, you'll find excellent advice & support here. If it wasn't such a downer, I'd say it's giftable to every woman, because lord knows these survival strategies can be used in many other situations.

Bottom line: It should be on every woman's bookshelf -- I hope you'll never need it, but odds are, at some point someone you know will...