Sports cars and hairpieces. Robbing the cradle and running away. Sure they're cliche, but if these images leap to mind when you hear the words "midlife crisis," you're not alone.

The thing about cliches, though, is most are based on fact. In this case, the facts are staggering. More than half of respondents to a poll on Notmuch.com, a website produced by Wisconsin Public Radio, said that the midlife crisis is a "very real, gut-wrenchingly depressing experience that we all go through at one time or another."

Does this mean that the man in your life is suffering through a crisis of his own? Not necessarily, but here are eight symptoms of the male midlife crisis and what you can do about them:

4. He makes a dramatic change in his personal style or appearance and is suddenly spending lots of time in front of a mirror

If your man has kicked up the vanity a notch (for example, wants hair plugs or starts getting facials even though he used to take pleasure in shower-free weekends), then you may have a problem. If the guy who always prided himself on his Roman nose is now talking about rhinoplasty, then your problem is a little bigger. The first step in boosting your man's bruised (and aging) ego is to compliment him. Sometimes, however, this isn't enough. That's when you just have to be patient.

Unfortunately, an increased sense of vanity is sometimes a sign that a man is having an affair. Obviously this is a bigger problem that usually requires couples counseling to repair the relationship, if it's possible at all.