This topic may not be of interest to the many younger guys here... or maybe it could serve as at least insight into a problem that they may encounter later in life. However, as I approach the beginning of my 50th year next week (49th birthday), I've been wondering if "male menopause" hasn't been creeping in. I don't normally go looking for "problems" but I, also, don't normally stand idlely by if I feel that I need to get busy addressing something serious in my life... which is how I got into fitness. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I sought out and was skimming a book in a bookstore on male menopause. I kept reading things that rang true so I bought it. One interesting point that the author made was that, at this point in time, we all have a greater chance to live longer than ever before and to experience what a human lifespan
should be. With that comes a new set of problems such as living to experience a part of life that has not been as well mapped as the younger years.
I love the analogy the author made to climbing mountains. At 50, I may be an experienced veteran of the first phase of life. I've climbed the mountain, crossed over the top and am on the downhill slope. However, now I look around and find another one just as big in front of me, one that's just as unfamiliar and ominous to me as the first.
Because so relatively few others have experienced the road ahead (re: the living longer comment) and/or have shared their experience with it - the problem may be compounded by many men's unwillingness to express openly what they feel about most things - I don't know how to interpret my own feelings about it. Is this normal? Do I need to get busy working on something before it gets worse?
I confess that I just bought the book and haven't had time to read it so most of this is my own interpretation but I think the symptoms of this "dis-ease" are the all-too-common "husband leaves wife for younger woman" and screws up the lives of a variety of innocent bystanders in the process. In less severe cases, he just goes and buys a new corvette! In any case, there's something that happens to a lot of guys at this juncture in the road that causes them a lot of anxiety and they either suffer in silence (depressed) or make drastic changes in their lives!
In my own case, I don't want to screw up my own life or those who I love so I'm struggling with my own feelings. I've been working out for several years now and I haven't had any significant problems with the physical symptoms of this yet. Although I haven't actually had my testosterone checked to see what it actually is, "everything" still works fairly well so far
which is actually part of the problem in a bizarre way. I find myself extremely attracted to younger women and feel as though they respond to me. I recently found myself in a situation where I had to get the hell out quickly because I was afraid that I was on the verge of making a mistake that I would have deeply regretted.
I interpret this as an attempt by an older guy to gain validation of his masculinity (which will inevitably fade in time
). I believe that, through the lifestyle I live now, I can postpone it for a lot longer and I actually feel as young as I've felt the past 20 years... I'm not but this is messin' with my mind.
I know that there are a few "older guys" out there. Care to comment?