In the Middle: Caring for a Declining Parent During Midlife

Abstract

The myriad social and emotional challenges of midlife in contemporary American society are well documented both empirically and anecdotally. With more middle-aged individuals now confronting the complications involved in the extended lifespan of their parents’ generation, another question has become salient: How does caring for a declining parent enhance, detract from, or otherwise affect one’s individuation process during this particular phase of life? Jung addresses each of these subject matters extensively in the course of his writings. This study juxtaposes these two categories of experience in a dialogue with each other while also factoring into that dialogue the experience of caretaking/caregiving.  This phenomenological study looks at how this specific experience alters or otherwise interacts with the course of one’s midlife personal development.