FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...FEATURES...
'We don't pause and ask if we're making ourselves truly happy'
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AUG 17 HYPER HEELS SURVIVAL GUIDE, 'MY FASHION ADDICTION ALMOST KILLED ME'
AUG 10 JULIE BURCHILL ON MADONNA, SPRAY TANS AND HEELS AT 10, LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT SISTER, FAB AT 50
AUG 3 GROOMLESS BRIDE, SARAH CHAMPION, 'I EAT PEOPLE'S RUBBISH', 'SCHOOL PROM MADE ME ANOREXIC'
JULY 27 'I SOLD MY BODY', 'LOVE TURNS ME INTO A SEX PEST', 'I HAD 8 STROKES BY 21', TOBY YOUNG
JULY 20 FABULOUS BODY SURVEY 2008, 'I BOUGHT A GASTRIC BAND FOR MY 18TH', 'AFFAIR SAVE OUR MARRIAGE', 'I ALMOST DIED FOR THE PERFECT BODY', KATY BRAND
JULY 13 'I STEAL FOR FUN', SUN, SEA AND STARVATION, TRACEY COX, 'I WANT TO STOP CUTTING',
JULY 6 SEX-PHOBIC, FRUGALISTAS, MARIELLA FROSTRUP, BABY BULLIES, FACELIFT LIKE MUM, FLABBY TUMMIES, JOIN THE ZZZ LIST
JUNE 29 'I BEAT PEOPLE FOR FUN', SUBMISSIVE WIVES, 'I CAN'T LOVE MY BABY', ATHLETICA NERVOSA, JUNE SARPONG
JUNE 22 BINGE DRINKERS, PRISON SUICIDES, JACKIE CLUNE, PROM QUEENS, MODELS WITH A DIFFERENCE
JUNE 15 DEBT DETOX, 'I LOST MY HOUSE AND MAN', SHAZIA MIRZA, 'SPENDING £2M PUT US IN JAIL', 'MY FREE NEW BOOBS'
JUNE 8 GORGEOUS GIGOLO, FIGHT FOR INNOCENCE, 'OUR BODIES ARE PERFECT'
JUNE 1 RADIOTHERAPY BABY, LIVING TOGETHER APART, JESSIE MCCARTNEY
MAY 25 BOOB JAB, MEET THE FREEMALES, SALLY LINDSAY, 'HE STOLE OUR CHILD...'
MAY 18 NO-STRINGS CYBERSEX, TISWAS, PLUS-SIZED AND PROUD, MARTIN LEWIS
MAY 11 WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IN SATC, 'I NEED 5 MEN TO KEEP ME HAPPY', 'ONLY 18... BUT SLEPT WITH 50 MEN', ALCOHOLIC, HOMELESS AND BROKE, 'WE POSED NAKED BECAUSE...', GET CARRIE-D AWAY
MAY 4 'MUM SOLD ME FOR £250', 'TERRORISED BY OUR OWN KIDS', THE TANOREXIC FAMILY
APRIL 27 'WE'LL NEVER FORGET OUR GIRLS', BIG GIRL'S PARADISE, 'I DON'T BELIEVE IN MARRIAGE', AGE-GAP LOVE, £20 SURGERY TO GET A MAN, ULRIKA JONSSON
APRIL 20 WHAT GOES AROUND..., THE BIRTH PHOBICS, FRENEMIES, KATIE HOPKINS, LAXATIVE ADDICT
APRIL 13 BUS STOP KILLER, DARK SIDE OF THE WEB, FAT AND HAPPY?, SIAN LLOYD
APRIL 6 FABULOUS SEX SURVEY, THE DRUNKOREXICS, CINDERELLA SURGERY, ANGELA GRIFFIN
MARCH 30 IRRESISTIBLE TO WOMEN, BULLIES MADE ME BALD, BABYMOONERS, BEN COHEN
MARCH 23 SUGAR MUMMIES, PLASTIC SURGERY ADDICT, LEIGH FRANCIS, ANOREXIC SISTERS
MARCH 16 WANNABE WAGS, ANTIDEPRESSANT DEBATE, SHARON HORGAN
MARCH 9 BRIDAL BOOTCAMP, FORGIVE A LOVE CHEAT?, MY CROOKED SPINE, YOUNG, GIFTED & GORGEOUS
MARCH 2 SKINNY MUMMY SYNDROME, BOOMERANG BRIDE
FEB 24 QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS, LOVE CURED CRACK HABIT, GYM ADDICTION, SHOULD WOMEN PROPOSE?
FEB 17 HE WANTS KIDS - I DON'T, SAGGY STOMACH, KATY BRAND
FEB 10 MY WIFE KILLED MY KIDS, I DO TAKE 2, BABY-FACED AND BOTOXED, KONNIE HUQ
FEB 3 HOOKED ON CLENBUTEROL, GOLD DIGGER AND PROUD, I LOST 18ST AND MY MAN
Help! I'm having
a QUARTER-
LIFE CRISIS
THEY'RE NOT BUYING MACHO MOTORBIKES OR PLANNING TO ELOPE WITH THEIR SECRETARIES, BUT 20-SOMETHING WOMEN ARE EXPERIENCING THEIR OWN UNIQUE VERSION OF THE MIDLIFE CRISIS...
By Fiona Cowood
Elly Sanderson's weekends used to be spent recovering from five days of deadlines and pressure at work, plus all the boozy lunches and parties.
"After university and a bit of travelling, I landed a job in marketing managing huge budgets," explains Elly, now 31, from south London.
"I was 23 and all my friends from university had similar jobs. Without realising it we were all sucked into the City lifestyle of work, pressure and parties.
"But after two years, I felt permanently unhealthy and drained," adds Elly.
"I'd look at colleagues a few years older than me and shudder at the thought of ending up like them – married to a job that didn't really mean much. I started wondering what was the point of it all."
WHAT HAVE YOU EVER HAD A 'QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS? CLICK HERE FOR READERS' COMMENTS
Psychologists have dubbed Elly's anxious state the Quarter Life Crisis (QLC), and according to new research, seven million Brits in their 20s are in the middle of one right now.
Psychologist Cliff Arnall says, "We live in a competitive society and many young people feel intense pressure to succeed in their jobs, finances and relationships as quickly as possible.
In the race, you don't pause and ask if you're making yourself truly happy. You just think you have to do everything before you're 30."
"The QLC should be treated as more than just a wobble – it's something that affects all areas of your self-esteem, and usually arrives when you reach a major crossroads in your life."
"I felt empty," Elly recalls. "I knew I wasn't doing anything worthwhile."
Three days after realising this, following a particularly stressful day at work, Elly resigned and flew to Thailand to train as a scuba diving instructor. She then volunteered at an orang-utan reserve in Borneo for three months.
"I felt absolutely free and didn't miss my old lifestyle at all," she says. "I'm now back in London and I work for the Orang-utan Foundation UK.
WHAT HAVE YOU EVER HAD A 'QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS? CLICK HERE FOR READERS' COMMENTS
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