In popular psychology, a life crisis or a quarter-life crisis is a crisis "involving anxiety over the direction and quality of one's life". It is most commonly experienced in a period ranging from a person's early twenties up to their mid-thirties (although it can begin as early as 18). It is a period of uncertainty and questioning that typically occurs when people feel trapped, uninspired and disillusioned. Clients may feel that they are stuck in a dead-end job while all of their friends advance their careers or wonder why they cannot seem to make a romantic relationship last when other members of their social group can. “People are in a state of crisis when they face an obstacle to important life goals—and obstacle that is, for a time, insurmountable by the use of customary methods of problem-solving.” (Caplan, 1961)
The most difficult part of being a teenager is trying to understand your feelings and who you are as a person. At the same time, you have to deal with the pressures of work, school, family, friends and the bad stereotype of being labeled a teen, and this challenges is commonly experience in the stage called adulthood where its is the period in the human lifespan in which full physical and intellectual maturity have been attained. One of the reasons many of us find it so hard to face adulting is because it is a time of rapid physical development and deep emotional changes. In addition to this, B. Bradford Brown provided an overview of psychosocial development and adolescent risk-taking. Brown began with the primary psychosocial tasks adolescents must accomplish, and these are the following; (1) is to stand out o to develop an identity and pursue autonomy, next is (2), to fit in or to find comfortable affiliations and gain acceptance from peers, (3) is to measure up or to develop competence and find ways to achieve, and lastly (4) is to take hold or to make commitments to particular goals, activities, and beliefs. hence, no wonder most of the adolescents find it hard to survive this stage however, there are different ways that a person can do while struggling with his/her life that will definitely help her/him to go through the challenges.
All events in our lives have an origin and you need to understand everything you can, like, why did you end up in such a situation? you need to find the right question to find the correct answer so that somehow you will be able to cope up with the challenges and surpass them. So now let us know the probable causes of your life crisis while you're in your adulting stage.
Common triggers include;
Trauma
It can be caused by an overwhelmingly negative event that causes a lasting impact on the victim's mental and emotional stability. While many sources of trauma are physically violent in nature, others are psychological. Past events of your life may still occur in your current life which may still make you feel afraid to try new things in life because it is imprinted in your brain what will happen even if you have not tried it yet for a reason that it is what you experienced in the past.
Unemployment
The impacts of unemployment on individuals include poverty and hardship, strained relationships, poorer health (although the causal relationships are not always clear), and housing stress as you always think that you are not able support yourself or your family and thinks that you are not enough, thus you are less self-confident, appear overwhelmed by your problems which unfortunately can lead you to have a mental disorders.
Illnesses
Untreated mental illness can cause severe emotional, behavioral and physical health problems. Complications sometimes linked to mental illness that includes unhappiness and decreased enjoyment of life, it can cause you a wide variety of emotional symptoms, some of which include: Changes in mood. Erratic thinking. Chronic anxiety, as you think that you can not be normal and/or has no ability to do anything in life.
Identity Issues
A period of uncertainty and confusion in which a your sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in your expected aims or role in society. You may rely on others' opinions to form their sense of self, and/or may falsely believe that you are "worthless" or unloved.
Loss of someone
Grief can affect your body, mind, emotions, and spirit, you might notice or show grief in several ways like Physical reactions: These might be things like changes in appetite or sleep, an upset stomach, tight chest, crying, tense muscles, trouble relaxing, low energy, restlessness, or trouble concentrating, and also develops anxiety attacks, chronic fatigue, depression and thoughts of suicide. And here is one of the reasons, there are adulting people that are still dependent on a certain person which they probably believe that they only got few people or only one person that believes in them and that they can trust, hence, losing someone they love is a great contributor of having a life crisis.
Insecurities
When you deal with generalized insecurity for a long period of time, however, the doubt and negative feelings experienced may have a significant effect on life. Insecurity is linked to mental health conditions such as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, paranoia, and addictive or dependent personalities. According to Alfred Adler, a Viennese psychoanalyst, insecure people have an inferiority complex. They feel low and doubt their abilities. The only way insecure people can make themselves happy is by making others unhappy. Unfortunately, their insecurity serves as a defense mechanism that protects their ego.
After discussing some possible triggers of having a life crisis, let us now know some of the possible Ways that may help you to cope up with your triggers to life crisis.
Let go of the past by facing them
Remember there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to feel. We react in different ways to trauma, so don’t tell yourself (or anyone else) what you should be thinking, feeling, or doing, next is, don’t ignore your feelings as it will only slow recovery. It may seem better in the moment to avoid experiencing your emotions, but they exist whether you’re paying attention to them or not. You should also, avoid obsessively reliving the traumatic event, as repetitious thinking or viewing horrific images over and over can overwhelm your nervous system, making it harder to think clearly, and lastly, If possible, try to wait until life has settled down, you’ve regained your emotional balance, and you’re better able to think clearly.
Acknowledge rejections and failures
Always think that you are not alone that is unemployed in the world, so acknowledge your feelings as It is okay to grieve after losing a job or rejected. Consider it as a natural response to your loss. Eventually, it will help you heal too. Once you have already acknowledged your feelings it will be easier for you to accept your situation. next is address the impact of being jobless, like your finances will no longer be stable, you might have fewer resources, and even your social interaction will be reduced, so you should respond by positively adapting to income loss so you can regain control of your life. You must learn and accept failure to appreciate success, you should boost your self worth and boost your skills because there are a lot of opportunities that are just waiting for you to grab.
Have time for yourself
Travel and relax, meditate if possible in order to look inward and explore the inside of you, take some time out to really look within yourself and ask yourself some questions about what you like and don’t like anymore and have good social support such as trusted friends, family and/or others that can help influence how well you cope with big changes, stressors, or questions of identity. Furthermore, don’t let society’s standards dictate who you are and what you should like, just because you’re of a certain age, gender, or cultural group, doesn’t mean that you need to follow along if you no longer believe in what you’re following.
Never compare your abilities to others
Despite the challenges of chronic illnesses, it is possible to live a happy, normal and rewarding life that doesn’t revolve around your condition, there are things that you can possibly do to enjoy life, like you can use the time you spend at home or in the hospital to do hobbies, talk to others who are coping with an illness, participates in decisions about your treatment and/or be part of an organization who speaks for people with an illness, you can express yourself in any ways so just keep you head up and seek for the people who genuinely cares for you. Battling with an illness is one of the hard things in the worl, so it already makes you special and different from others as you faces different difficulties in life and you should see how strong you are.
Give time yourself to grieve enough
Grieving is a highly individual experience; there’s no right or wrong way to grieve. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality and coping style, your life experience, your faith, and how, the grieving process takes time. Healing happens gradually; it can’t be forced or hurried—and there is no “normal” timetable for grieving. Significant the loss was to you. It is you right to acknowledge your pain and identify between grief and depression. It is okay to go through different stages of grief, free yourself from doing things that will help you to accept everything as long as you don’t hurt people and never drowned yourself from negative emotions.
Value yourself
Stop looking after everyone else’s needs and forgetting your own, you should affirm your own needs and value. Be genuine to yourself, accept if your insecure to yourself or to others, never deny it as this can help you to be better version of you. Disconnect yourself for a bit from toxic environment for a reason that maybe your insecurities are built by others. Never compare yourself to others as we have our own different life stories, learn to be grateful, focus on your own strength and learn to compete with yourself instead of others. “Comparison the thief of joy” says Teddy Roosevelt.
The overall point of this content is to show the six possible triggers of life crisis and six ways for people can do to help them cope up with life crisis while they are in their adolescence stage in order for them to somehow see how really life works.
There are many trials that every person goes through, they are not classified by appearance, life level or age, not only the elderly or the many life experiences experience hardship, because in fact it is more difficult for people who are new and still ignorant with the reality of life. The stage of adolescence really puts pressure on a person as this is where you build your dreams and passion in life, however, there are so many things that you can practice or do to be good at dealing with the trials that will be thrown at you, you just need to be persevere, strengthen your heart, mindset and believe that you can overcome the life crisis you face.
Sources:
healthline.com
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/identity-crisis
summitpathways.com
https://7summitpathways.com/blog/what-is-a-quarter-life-crisis/
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis
mindtools.com
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/midlife-crisis.htm
onlinedegrees.bradley.edu
https://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/blog/understanding-the-quarter-life-crisis/
helpguide.org
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm
healthline.com
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-being-insecure
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https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Stages-of-Adolescence.aspx
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