When that midlife crisis comes early

In the online community of www.quarterlifecrisis.com, angst can be spelled out in one simple phrase: 25 is the new 50. The under-30 set that frequents the site -- to the tune of 1 million hits a month -- can empathize with Andrew Largeman’s soul-searching in “Garden State,” using the message boards to document their own seemingly eternal journeys to adulthood.

Launched four years ago as a companion piece to the bestseller “Quarterlife Crisis: the Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties,” the website “has grown to be its own separate entity,” says Abby Wilner, 29, webmaster and coauthor of the book. Community members gather to seek advice, provide support or simply kvetch about life, love and jobs -- or the lack thereof.

“People are taking longer to become adults,” says Wilner. “They find this place [the website] where others also have difficulty transitioning to adulthood.”

Some posters are thoughtful about issues that aren’t necessarily covered on MTV’s “The Real World.” One user asked for help with the winter blues under a topic titled “Lonely,” and the thread garnered several replies within a few hours. Part of one response reads: “I think loneliness is inversely proportional to bravery in the world. I do. It’s hard to stand out, but it’s harder to be lonely.”

Wilner says that most frequent ruminations come from writers who are bored with or burned out from work. One objects to her employer’s policy of blocking websites such as Victoria’s Secret. “I’m just trying to look at tankinis!” [left as written on posting] she writes. Another job-related complaint comes from a poster in Azusa who’s probably contemplating early retirement: “I’ve worked in corporate America for 4 months, and I already hate it. I don’t understand how people can do this for 40 years.”

Welcome to the real real world, kiddo. Only 39 years and eight months to go.