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Week 8 (30.11 - 06.12) The Quarter-Life Crisis


Probably everyone has heard about the midlife crisis. Men around their 50s drive bright red sports cars, chatting up pretty girls the age of their daughter, that’s the most commonly associated stereotype. Before that , it seems, the adult life was going pretty well, the goals were defined, everything was as it’s supposed to be. But is it really? We are in our twenties and have we all found out who we really are and are our careers starting to speed up and move in a clearly defined direction? 

Recently I have read many articles discussing a newly defined phenomenon of the quarter life crisis. Wikipedia defines it as “a period of life usually ranging from the late teens to the early thirties, in which a person begins to feel doubtful about their own lives, brought on by the stress of becoming an adult. “The Guardian article at presents some studies researching this subject. Maybe this crisis hitting more and more young people is connected with a higher level of stress that our generation is experiencing? We already know that our societies are experiencing a large increase in so called mental diseases of affluence?

The typical signs of experiencing this are the following:
  • Feeling depressed
  • Increased levels of anxiety and stress
  • Feeling ‘trapped’ with no way out
Many entertainment websites post articles about the struggles of being in your 20s and their points sometimes are spot on:

Every day you wrestle with that weird concept of being a young twentysomething vs. being an adult.

Here is a link to the article. You can check the 25 signs of having a quarter life crisis : 
Here is another one pointing out 25 disappointments of the 25 year olds:

The previously mentioned Guardian article discusses 4 stages of the crisis, and luckily the last one advises to devote to newly found interests and purposes in life. If by any chance you’d need some guidance through your worse period, you can find some books and online guides.


Do you think this quarter-life crisis is a ‘real’ and serious thing? Can you see any those signs in your life?

Sources:

Comments

Well, of course I heard about middle life crisis phenomenon, but I have never observed anything like that happening in life of anyone I know in such age. Maybe there are people with anxiety and depression, but is this really matter of number of years we have? Personally I understand that everyone no matter how old is have problems with accepting fact of getting older. I also can’t believe that I am 24 years old. And I guess when I will be 50 years old I will be even more surprised :). Nevertheless I think it is problem of situation in life not age. When we are not sure about out careers, family, health or anything else we start thinking about problems we have.

From my observations I can say, that people in quarter-life have anxiety about their career path. So many people are not sure about their’s choice of profession. They studied finances but when they started work it occurred that they don’t even life it. But knowing that they spend 5 years in University, that were wasted now get them stressed.
Unknown said…
I agree with Cezary. I don't think that anxiety and depression come to people at certain age and I also have never observed such behavior in people that I know and who are around 25 years old.
Unknown said…
I think that Quarter-life crisis depends on people. I have a feeling that some people don't "feel" their age. They are forever young.
Moreover, In my opinion people in certain age groups behave similarly. whether they are 20, 25 or 50 years old. Examples of this is the behavior of our parents, who speak a similar language. Our mothers use the same phrases to children.
Unknown said…
There is something in this. I have felt like this for some time. I was a litte depressed and I didn't know what I should to do. I began to wonder if I study right direction of study. At some point, instead to pit you, You have to start act. For me everything is getting better when I began to look for a job and I get it. When I have a lot to do I have no time for self-pity. When we are young we should act, we try new things and gain experience and we can't sit at home and cry over how we feel badly.
Unknown said…
Recently, most people have running life-style where you don't have time to calmly eat a meal. Lack of time, stress, as you wrote, it has quite influence for our quality of life.
If we live not good in our opinion we will begin to feel psychological discomfort associated with feeling depressed, increased levels of anxiety and stress or feeling trapped. Sometimes I have similar feelings, but it is momentary and passes me. The crisis is more stronger and long lasting phenomenon. I think that this crisis affecting increasingly and most of people have this kind of feeling. We become more and more a sad society.
Tomasz Wojda said…
It is real! Midlife crysis is a true fact for everyone of us! I found really good list of symptoms that illustrate how defining a midlife crisis is truly relative to the person experiencing the changes. Take a look here: http://personaltao.com/teachings/midlife-crisis/signs-of-a-midlife-transformation/
But i do not belive in quarter life crysis because from this point of view my whole life is a crysis :) and you 'll be able to divide it to separated parts and call them X-age crysis. In every man life there are some monumental changes that will affect they way of life. In some ways this is a question about happines!
Julia Osiak said…
I think that middle life and quarter life crises have some significant differences. For me middle life crisis can be more dramatic, the changes are more drastic maybe? When you're in your 20's there is still a chance to change pretty much everything, so it's more about being insecure and not knowing really how you're feeling.
Julia Osiak said…
I agree with you. The fast pace of our lives, the pressure of being successful gets to everyone. I find it ironic that we feel the pressure to be happy and instead it makes many of us anxious and depressed, because we feel that we are not happy enough.
Julia Osiak said…
I also find it that the more work I have the better I feel. Like you said, there is no time for overthinking and over-analyzing, so things just go on smoother.
Unknown said…
I think you’ve noticed really important problem. Good topic for the article. I agree with you. I think a quarter- life crisis is a real thing. Many people who have 20-30 years old confused themselves. They have finished Universities, Academies, etc. and they don’t know what will be next. They often have to look for themselves one more time. Part of them find it but next part remain at a standstill and stagnation. Your first link about 25 signs of having of quarter life crisis is very funny :P
Unknown said…
Considering that people between 20-30 years old face a lot of important life and career decisions it's obvious some get caught in a crisis, but I think you don't need to create a whole new definition for it. Stressful life, being unsure of your past decisions, looking for a stable job - all this things take their toll, but I think it can happen anytime in someone's life. :)
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I think that quarter-life crisis exists and it happens to everyone, but it is really important what life-style has a specific person, because a big part depends on it.
I agree with guys that if you are active, work, study and so on, you just have no time to be sad.
Of course, a quarter life crisis depends on you past decisions, I mean your decisions about you life, such as education, job etc. So, if you love everything you do you probably will not have such strong syndromes of quarter-life crisis.
Unknown said…
Sure, as probably everyone I have heard about the century crisis. I think, everyone is dissatisfied with the fact that he is getting older. Awfully time flies fast and it turns out very quickly that we are not young anymore. When it comes to depression and various problems I do not think that has something to do with age. It's rather about the position you are at the age - if you are satisfied with what you've been doing during your life you will not be depressed but if deep inside you know you could have done much more you're more likely to feel down.
Unknown said…
Well, of course I heard about middle life crisis and what's more funny i even was part of it. My father found himself a new family, bought couple of expensive watches and drive quite nice car. So for me this is kind of sickness when you understand that what you have is worthless and you need new toys. Greetings for Father
Unknown said…
I do not think this is a serious matter. Each human behavior is individual and depends on his life and things that he met in his life. Some of the examples given above will fit more and some less, and we should not look for a deeper bottom in my opinion.
Julia Osiak said…
I think our society likes to label things. Everything has to be precisely defined and named, hence the new crisis that you can go through.
Unknown said…
I believe that everyone have some kind of crisis during their lives. Marathon runners have their own crisis around 34-36 km, artists have creative crisis which may least for a very long time.. So it's normal that people have crises, and in my opinion quarter-life crisis is just one of many :-)
Unknown said…
I believe men don ride bright red sport cars before their 50s because and only because those are expensive beasts. ;)

Quarter life, the age of 25 or something is a moment when everybody starts to have some serious money. When people get married and have children. When your Facebook wall is full of engagement rings, new flat photos and graduation diplomas. Till now it was our decision to follow all the trends or to not. From this moment it's not. If somebody is not in some of the groups mentioned before s/he can't join it without help of others. You can't just decide that till tomorrow you will earn more money or be married. This feel of lack of control can lead to some kind of crisis but I would say it is just a beginning. At this stage of life almost everybody has power to change it if given some time.

But anyways... red goes faster.
I agree that 25 signs about quarter life crisis are correct. Especially i noticed my uncle has exhibited many of these signs but women also have many of these characteric at the age of 50s at especially in Poland when they thin they are still young and beautiful. in post communism countries, many people compare the success and how much money they earn without realizing that they are past the generation and social family values matter less.
Unknown said…
I think that I haven't reached the "quarter- life crisis" yet. I'm 23 years old and now is the time for me to learn, to seek and try various new activities. I'm sure that this crisis would come to me years would pass and I wouldn't succeed in things I care about. For now I feel that everything with my life is ok and I believe that can fulfill my dreams and plans if I work hard to get there. It's important to think about what we really want, how we feel and spend our time productively. I think that people nearing their thirties need the have a clear goal they can aspire to. I think those crisises come from unfulfilment and lack of those goals. People are afraid of not finding what they want to do in life.

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