Depressing Reading for 30 Somethings

Relate survey suggests mid-life crisis 'begins in 30s'

Work and relationship pressures make the mid-30s the start of many British people's unhappiest decade, a survey suggests.

Of those questioned, more people aged 35 to 44 said that they felt lonely or depressed than in other age groups.

The survey also suggested that busy parents were using Facebook and similar sites to stay in touch with children.

Relationship advice charity Relate, which is behind the research, said it revealed a "true mid-life crisis".
Of those surveyed, 21% of men and women aged 35 to 44 said they felt lonely a lot of the time, and a similar percentage said that bad relationships, either at work or home, had left them feeling depressed.

The same proportion said they felt closer to friends than family, and a quarter said they wished they had more time for their family.

Life stress

Claire Tyler, Relate's chief executive, said: "Traditionally we associated the midlife crisis with people in their late 40s to 50s, but the report reveals that this period could be reaching people earlier than we would expect.

"It's no coincidence that we see people in this age group in the biggest numbers at Relate."

Professor Cary Cooper, the chairman of the charity and a researcher in work stress at Lancaster University, said that things were only likely to worsen in the current economic climate, as more was demanded of fewer employees.

He said: "We're already working the longest hours in Europe - if you constantly work people long hours it's not good for their health.

"The annual cost of work-related mental health problems is estimated at £28 billion, so it's clearly a massive problem."

The survey, conducted in collaboration with phone and broadband firm Talk Talk, revealed that 28% of 35 to 44-year-olds questioned said they had left a job because of a bad working relationship with a colleague.

It also shed light on how family relationships are standing up to modern life.

While most people described their relationship with their partner as in positive terms, one in five were worried about the current financial climate.


As someone in their late 30s this makes depressing reading.

Do you agree with the results of the survey?

Pay particular attention to the pronunciation of the following words. What are the words? They are all taken from the text. Spell out the words in the Phonemic chart and/or check them in the talking dictionary. Are they the same way as you say them?
  1. /ədˈvaɪs/    (compare with the verb /ədˈvaɪz/ ) 
  2. /ˈkraɪ.sɪs/
  3. /ˈklaɪ.mət/
  4. /trəˈdɪʃ.ən.əl.i/
  5. /ˈæn.ju.əl/
  6. /ˈsɜː.veɪ/ (compare the word stress with the verb /səˈveɪ/)
  7. /ˈkɒl.iːg/
  8. /pəˈsen.tɪdʒ/
  9. /ˈkwes.tʃənd/
  10. /ˈbɪz.i/
  11. /kəʊˈɪnt .sɪ.dənt s/
  12. /ˈbɪl.jən/
  13. /rɪˈsɜː.tʃər/
  14. /ˈkwɔː.tər/
  15. /dɪˈprest/

Comments

Sir Joseph said…
Hi Invernessians,

Until now everyone thought that the midlife crisis began when people reached the age of 40, because the most important things of people start to change at that moment, such as:
People can see that their partner is not as they have thought.
People think that their aims for be successful in life is very difficult now, almost impossible.
The job is not as they had dreamed, on the contrary, it´s boring and it doesn´t serve for anything.
People take the lift instead of taking the stairs.
People can see your parents a bit old and so on.

In my opinion, the best age of people is at 30s. At this moment you are young as well as mature. I don´t agree with the survey. You can be depressed at 30s but it´s temporary. If people fall into crisis at 30s, what will happen them when they reached 70?

We are moaner. We wouldn´t complain if our parents had given us all done. After a lot of years I have understand that we need to fight in life. This is the best way to don´t fall into a depression.

1.- Advice (consejo) and Advise (aconsejar).
2.- Crisis (crisis).
3.- Climate (clima).
4.- Traditionally (tradicionalmente).
5.- Annual (anual).
6.- Survey (encuesta).
7.- Colleague (compañero).
8.- Percentage (porcentaje).
9.- Questioned (preguntado).
10.- Busy (ocupado).
11.- Coincidence (coincidencia).
12.- Billion (mil millones).
13.- Researcher (investigador).
14.- Quarter (cuarto).
15.- Depressed (deprimido).

See you.
Graham said…
Good evening Sir J,

We all have our ups and downs whatever age we are, but it seems to me that nowadays people are made to feel they have to be depressed.

I hope that you listened to the pronunciation of the words in the list.


Until now everyone thought that the midlife crisis began when people reached the age of 40, because it's then that the most important things for people start to change, such as:
People can see that their partner is not what they expected.
People think that their aims to be successful in life are very difficult now, almost impossible.
The job is not as they had hoped, on the contrary, it´s boring and pointless.
People take the lift instead of taking the stairs.
People can see their parents a bit old and so on.

In my opinion, the best age of people is their 30s. It is during these years that you are young yet mature. I don´t agree with the survey. You can be depressed in your 30s but it´s temporary. If people fall into a crisis in their 30s, what will happen (to them) them when they reach 70?

We are big moans. We wouldn´t complain if our parents had given us everything already done. After many years, I have learnt that we need to fight in life. This is the best way to not fall into a depression.