ABSTRACT
Among the important contributors to the literature on midlife development and crisis, two names stand out: Erik Erikson provided conceptual clarity by defining the developmental tasks to be accomplished at different stages of life, including midlife, while Elliot Jaques, in the landmark article in which he coined the term "midlife crisis", elucidated the central fantasy underlying midlife tasks. Articles on midlife written after the heyday of interest in the 1970s and 1980s seem to reflect a need to stress the usefulness of midlife theory. Hopelessness refers to the feelings and thoughts that arise in the absence of hope. Its feeling tone is best captured in its synonym, despair. In author's view, the practical application of considering hopelessness in the context of midlife is this: An analyst or dynamic therapist may not be in the habit of hearing unconscious hopes as opposed to desires or wishes.
