Mid-Life Crisis: Fact or Fiction?

I've been interested in the question of whether the mid-life crisis is an excuse for poor behavior for quite some time. When my dad began throwing annual Rolling Stones parties and bought a cheap convertible, my mom attributed it to his 50th birthday, whereas I believed these acts were just an excuse to act like he was 25 again. Richard A. Friedman, the author of this article, takes the latter approach as he challenges the idea of the mid-life crisis with his title statement "Crisis? Maybe He's a Narcissistic Jerk." With heavy sarcasm and wry humor, Friedman dismisses the idea of the mid-life crisis and boils it down to an excuse for male boredom. While my beliefs on the mid-life crisis may not be as harsh as Friedman's, the article made me wonder if there is some validity in the idea of the mid-life crisis. Do we deserve to meltdown in the face of aging or are we expected to age gracefully? What about American culture promotes the idea that dating younger women/men or buying a fancy car will solve our middle age mental breakdowns?