Why men dread turning 40

Twice as many men as women are likely to experience a midlife crisis when they hit 40, a new study has found.

The panic attack comes despite 69 percent of Australians in the age group claiming that they don't look their age.

Another 57 percent, who were surveyed nationwide by Newspoll for the DVD launch of the comedy 'This Is 40', said they did not feel any different from their 30s, News.com.au reported.

Apart from mourning being forced to move on from beloved under 35s sporting teams or realising "signing up for over 50s insurance is no longer far away", Daily Telegraph readers seemed largely untroubled by hitting the big four-zero.

Psychologist Meredith Fuller believes career stress, retrenchments and having younger colleagues promoted ahead of them are reasons some men fret about turning 40.

"They can get very twitchy about raising their age," she said, noting the survey found more men (69 percent) than women lied about their age.

But Fuller said the majority accept "40 is the new 30. About 80 percent of people coming into turning 40 really believe it is not a big deal any more. We are starting to recognise 40 is fabulous, you don't have to lie about your age.