Carl Jung: Midlife Crises and the Analytic Process

From "Jungian Psychology Unplugged: My Life as an Elephant" by Daryl Sharp

Anatomy of a Midlife Crisis

"The disintegration of personality sounds much less ominous if it is understood as an opportunit y for new life rather than the end of the line. Such an attitude is more than mere consolation for the person going through the experience; it can mean the difference between life and death, for it offers the possibility of meaning in what would otherwise be pointless suffering. This is especially true in the middle years of life, when many are brought to their knees either by circumstances or by ignorance of their own psychology, and often by both.
The factors at work in a midlife crisis are for all practical purposes indistinguishable from an acute outbreak of neurosis. Both are marked by sudden appearance of unusual moods and behavior. The typical profile is that of a person who has always managed quite well, held down a job, perhaps married and has children, and then one day finds that nothing works anymore.
Such people have dark thoughts, suspicions and fantasies that give them no peace. They lose their energy and ambition; they are anxious and feel they've missed the boat. They may ascribe their moods to the loss of a loved one, an unsatisfactory relationship, problems at work or any number of other objectively difficult circumstances. There is an inability to adapt to change; they can't meet new or unexpected situations in their usual way. Sometimes there is a strong conscious conflict - between loyalty to a mate, say. and attraction to an alluring other - but often there is nothing one can put a finger on. Simply said, where before they could cope with the vicissitudes of life, now they cannot. Life is a meaningless jumble. Their outlook is bleak; they hurt and have thoughts of suicide." (pg 77-78)

"On whatever level, neurosis is best described as a symptom of self-division. In many people the cause of the division is that the conscious mind wants to hold on to a moral idea, while the unconscious strives after what seems to the ego to be immoral. People of this type always want to appear respectable, at the cost of who they really are." (pg 80)

"Only what is really oneself has the power to heal." (pg 91)

"Intellectually, the self is no more than a psychological concept, a construct that serves to express an unknowable essence which we cannot grasp as such, since by definition it transcends our powers of comprehension. It might equally be called the "God Within us". (Jung) (pg 91)

Typical Progression of Psychological Events In a Midlife Crisis

1. Difficulty of adaptation. Difficulty of progression of energy.
2. Regression of libido (depression, lack of disposable energy)
3. Activation of unconscious contents (infantile fantasies, archetypal images, inferior function, opposite attitude, shadow, anima/animus, etc). Compensation.
4. Formation of neurotic symptoms (confusion, fear, anxiety, guilt, moods, emotional reactions, etc.)
5. Unconscious or half-conscious conflict between ego and contents activated in the unconscious. Inner tension. Defensive reactions.
6. Activation of the transcendant function, involving the Self and archetypal patterns of wholeness.
7. Formation of symbols (numinosity, synchronicity)
8. Transfer of energy between unconscious contents and consciousness. Enlargement of the ego, more adequate progression of energy.
9. Integration of unconscious contents. Active involvement in the process of individuation

Jung's Four Stages of the Analytic Process

1. Confession - You get things off your chest. You confess everything consciously concealed, repressed, guilt-laden, thoughts, wishes, fantasies, emotions like fear, hate, aggression and whatever else you are not proud of.
2. Elucidation - You become aware of conscious contents that have not been concealed or repressed but have never been conscious: dormant character traits, attitudes, abilities. You develop an understanding of complexes, projection, persona and shadow, anima/animus, and become aware of a regulating center, the Self.
   
3. Education - Discovering your role as a social being, your place in the world, where you fit in, your vocation.
4. Transformation - You become more fully the person you were always meant to be. Unconscious compulsion is replaced by conscious development.