Midlife makeover!

The dandy dude
HE���S EDGY!
Life in middle-age is a challenge. It���s the ultimate meltdown. The dude���s just being weird. His behaviour is getting controversial. We���re just labelling a common reaction of the male species to one of life���s challenges ��� getting older, boredom of the routine ��� as a crisis? Even the New York Times reports, men are generally more novelty-seeking than women, but they certainly can���t decide what they do with their impulses.Dr Advesh Sharma, psychiatrist, explains, ���Midlife is a realisation that youth is gone. For most men, it is a jittery feeling indeed. A man goes through behavioural changes; it can be a time of great anguish, despair, inadequacy or feeling of guilt.���
It's coming, ladies beware!
Hey ladies, his hormones are fluctuating, so pay attention! When your man starts giving extra attention to his appearance, goes on a diet, gyms and buys an expensive cream for skin tightening, be careful. Adman Prahlad Kakar says, ���Society puts a particularly high value on youth, so middle aged alpha male feels very much challenged. So, they hit gyms.���
The big cliche', naughty at 40!
This phase is a bit of a shocker for him and he doesn���t like what he sees. Actor Parmeet Sethi says, ���We need renewal to recharge the batteries; you���ve already taken enough knocks from life. So this is the time to live life.��� Men seek change: a new young partner, a new career, new home and so on. ���He���ll buy a Merc or a open gypsy, join salsa and go Miami for vacation. Remember, Richard Gere in Shall We Dance, he joins the dance class as he was fed up of his not so happening life,��� adds Parmeet. Hairstylist Jawed Habib says, ���In midlife, men want to look younger, get a brighter hair colour and funky haircut. They want a life away from home and family.���
Man gets flirty!
He wants to redefine his sex life too. ���Men want to have active sex life; they want to attract young women and go on dinners and travel with them,��� adds Dr Sharma. Actually men want to prove that age can���t stop them from having good sex and flirting around. Author Shobhaa De says, ���With men, it���s about their sex drive during midlife crisis.���
Fulfilling the fantasy
Men want to escape into fantasy world with another woman or life with less responsibility. Mostly, men take a U-turn after doing silly things. But if it is a full blown crisis, ladies be prepared!
The chic chick
Female in Fear!
What does a female in a midlife crisis look like? She goes out and has -- an extra-marital affair, hides and dodges facts, is edgy almost always. Sure, this woman is in high turbulence zone. She���s trying to shed her old skin and get a new one. Dr Megha Hazuria Gore, psychiatrist, Max Healthcare says, ���When you���re settled in life, children are grown up, then you start introspecting what you���ve done.���
The hurdle
Is female midlife crisis a cliche? Women are confronting the obstacles of middle age and figuring out how to turn them into opportunities. Actor Kiron Kher says, ���It���s like a second coming. Women can -- take a trip, write a novel. And some restless women, are desperate for everything. They want to experience everything in life anew. Emotions, love, happiness, success.There���s a feeling of dissatisfaction at the way life has turned out. They want things as per their needs and desires.���
I'm too sexy for any age!
Women do funny things - join aerobics and go gymming just to slip into their daughter���s skimpy dress. Fitness expert Deanne Pandey says, ���Midlife is pushing people to join gym, salsa and aerobics, they want to look great.��� Women are going clubbing, trying Rihanna���s blunt cut and getting botox treatment. ���In such an image-driven world, women hit the panic button and start fretting about their years, but it���s human to want to cling on to youth. Nobody enjoys growing old,��� adds Shohbaa De.
Freedom and fun with young!
Women love to be in relationship with younger men. Take for example Madonna and Guy Richie. Midlife crisis leads to relationship changes and desperation to renew sex life. In movie, Being Julia, Annette Bening, a successful theatre artist asks her husband to close down the production company, so that she can live her life and travel around the world during her middle age. She falls in love with a young man to revive her life in a more meaningful way!
Fulfilling the Fantasy
Ultimately, the mid-life crisis is about managing change of one kind or another. Every woman goes through this phase; husbands should understand and women just speak out!