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This is Scientific Americans' 60-Second Science. I am Adam Hinterthuer. Got a minute?

Hitting your mid-forties? Chances are you are feeling down but don't hang your head. You are just at the bottom of life's U shaped path of happiness. You might not see it from here but things are looking up. A study in the journal Social Science and Medicine says midlife malaise is part of being human. Offering proof that misery¹ loves company,researchers found that millions of people from 74 different countries followed similar life path. They moved from youthful happiness toward mid-life depressions, then back to happiness in their golden years. Earlier studies suggested psychological well-being² was consistent throughout life. But this report says from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, there is no getting around that mid-life crisis. Regardless of cultural differences, financial success or marital³ status, a period of depression settles over our forties. But by our late fifties, we cheer back up. Researchers speculate that as we get older, unrealistic expectations are tempered by reality, in other words , we learn to expect less from life but they say a happier possibility is that we just get better at counting our blessings⁴

Thanks for the minute for Scientific Americans' 60-Second Science. I am Adam Hinterthuer.