1 / 4 Life Crisis
By RYAN NANTON Programme: Bachelor of Arts in Journalism OPINION
Erickson’ s Stages, elements of Crisis and Virtue:
1. Infancy: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust. VIrtue of hope. 2. Toddler stage Autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Virtue of will. 3. Childhood: Intiative vs. Guilt. Virtue of Purpose. 4. Early Adolescence: Industry vs Inferiority. Virtue of competence. 5. Late Adolescence: Individual Identity Confusion. Virtue of fidelity. 6. Early Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation. Virtue of love. 7. Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs. Stagnation. Virtue of caring.
8. LAte Adulthood vs Old Age: Ego Integrity vs. Despair. Virtue of wisdom.
No one likes to admit it, but feeling like an utter failure is sometimes our common reality. This failure or the fear is the driving factor in what makes many people call it quits. What compounds the situation is when this feeling of uncertainty intensifies and brews into a constant, troubling state. When this occurs for young adults, it is known as a phenomenon called the‘ Quarter-Life Crisis’ or QLC.
The QLR was coined by Abby Wilner in 1997 after she graduated from college, moved back home and could not figure out what to do with her life. Wilner later became the co-author of Quarterlife Crisis, published in 2001, and The Quarterlifer’ s Companion: How to Get on the Right Career Path, Control Your Finances, and FInd the Support Network You Need to Thrive, published in 2005.
What is it?
The QLR, simply put, is a phase young people who range from their late teens to their early thirties goes through that is characterised by ambiguity about which direction our lives are headed.
Essentially, we are confronted by insecurities such as having attainable goals, financial independence, friends and relationships, living arrangements and the question:“ What’ s the point of this entire struggle?” And, if you’ re anything like me, you feel lost, anxious, and petrified of the unknown. But you’ re not alone. And, there are plenty of ways to make riding it out little easier. At least this is according to developmental psychological, Erik Erickson, who asserts that being aware of particular life stages can prepare and equip you to face this avoidable crisis. Erickson examined life through a psychological framework. He theorised that people developed psychosocially through eight different stages. Each stage is signified by a conflict between two opposing phenomena.
Once the struggle is resolved, a person acquires a particular virtue. If a person does not fully resolve the conflict within a stage, that virtue becomes an ongoing issue that persists throughout subsequent stages or until it gets resolved. Using Erickson’ s model, the QLR can be seen as reviewing the developmental task of late adolescence. The task of securing one’ s identity was not sufficiently accomplished during adolescence; therefore, the young adult continues to struggle with identity issues.
Take into consideration your current experience here at COSTAATT or your previous exposure to education at your secondary school. How much time was taken by your educators or advisors in treating with your insatiable desire to answer the questions,“ What does it mean to be an adult, how do I transition smoothly from teenage me to young adult me, or how do I strike the balance?” Adolescents are rushed to grow up and pushed into the next stage without a foundation of what it means to be an“ adult”. Distinctive in the late adolescence stage is the psychosocial moratorium. Erickson described it as:
This time of your life is a period of transition, and you need to keep yourself grounded. You can’ t fix everything instantly, so be patient and set realistic goals you know you can achieve. Kill the fantastical hopes. You’ re a student, not a multimillionaire. So don’ t have unattainable goals and far-fetched financial expectations for yourself. Once you start creating realistic, manageable plans to deal with your biggest stressors, you’ ll have a much easier time keeping yourself out of the same type of crisis in the future. The transition into adulthood might suck, but I know we’ d definitely be worse off if it never came.
Caiman Vybe | Volume 1, No. 1 | December 9, 2017. 14