I had a major crash and burn a year or so into my 40s. According to my post-collapse thereapist this was a really predictable thing among single, male academic

I had a major crash and burn a year or so into my 40s. According to my post-collapse thereapist this was a really predictable thing among single, male academics, and not all that uncommon amongst other academics entering their 40s as well as non-academics of the same age. The blind rushing forward for the sake of not much more than blindly rushing forward tends to start to get frayed at the edges due to a number of things, not the least of which is the inevitable ravages of age starting to invade your psyche. I got out of the funk via self-administered cognitive therapy. You just have to keep asking yourself questions about why you're anxious, afraid, upset, etc. about various things, find reasonable answers, and keep telling yourself those answers until you've changed how you internalize and react to such things. Staying busy with things you enjoy - i.e. typically NOT work - also helps given how busy hands and attendant busy minds have less time to attack themselves. Such phrases as "don't worry, be happy", "live for the day", "gain the wisdom to know what you can and can't change", etc. have become hoary, cringeworthy cliches, but like all cliches they do contain a kernel of substance. We live in accelerated times where we're in a mad rush to get somewhere, although we typically don't have a really good idea just where. The last stop on the train route is the same for everybody. Those who reach the end are differentiated by how much they enjoyed the ride, and if you're not enjoying the ride you really, really need to ask that mirror why and get some honest answers.