Life transitions revisited: manage crisis

Life is hard at times. Everyone experiences emotional pain over the course of their entire life.

Our pain comes from various crisis. A crisis may be “situational” and “maturational" or "developmental." Situational crsis refers to a sudden, accidental, frightening, and often catastrophic event that one can’t anticipate or control. Examples are physical illness and injury, loss or death of the loved one, assault, fatal accident, natural disaster, war, terrorist attack, separation/divorce, the loss of your job and severe economic depression to name a few.
This crisis threatens one's psychological well-being and can produce disequilibrium.

Psychological problems may arise as the person struggles with a transition from one life stage to another during the maturational processes. During each stage of development, a person experiences psychological, social, and physical change accompanied by certain developmental tasks. Let’s take a look at the stages.

In childhood, a person’s developmental tasks involve socialization, family relationships, friendships, and school performance. A crisis may arise from peer conflict, loss of friends through moving, conflict with parents, school difficulties, and entering school in early childhood.

In adolescence, a person’s tasks center on identity issues. A crisis may arise from performance in academics or athletics, graduation from high school, going to college, conflicts with parents over personal habits and lifestyle, breakup with boyfriend or girlfriend, unwanted pregnancy, career indecision, and challenges on first job.

In young adulthood from ages 18-34, one’s conce
s center on intimacy, parenthood, and getting started in a career or occupation. Potential crisis events include rejection by boyfriend or girlfriend, extramarital affair, separation/divorce, unwanted pregnancy, birth of a child, inability to have children, illness in a child, discipline problems with children, inability to manage the demands of parenthood, academic difficulties, job dissatisfaction, poor performance in chosen career, financial difficulties, conflict between career and family goals, and age thirty transition.

In middle adulthood during the ages 35-50, the one’s conce
s and tasks center on reworking previous developmental issues and confronting new issues and challenges. The one evaluates his or her accomplishment in personal and professional area. A crisis may arise from awareness of physical decline, chronic illness of self or spouse children, rejection by adolescent children, decisions about caring for an elderly parent, death or prolonged illness of parents, career setback, conflicts at work, financial conce
s, moving associated with a job promotion, unemployment, sense of discrepancy between life goals and achievements, dissatisfaction with goals achieved, regret over past decisions related to marriage and having children, marital problems, return to work after raising children, and death of friends.

In maturity stage between 50-65 and after 65, the one’s conce
s center on consolidating his/her experience and resources and reorienting one’s life toward later years. A crisis may arise from health problems, decisions related to retirement, resistance to retirement, changes in physical living arrangements, conflict with grown children, adjusting to an empty nest, death of a spouse, divorce, and conflict with parents.

These life transitions can be anticipated. You may go through emotional and somatic distress. Still, prolonged suffering can be avoided via psychotherapy and counseling. You can mentally prepare for these potential crises and learn to handle challenges appropriately.
Trained psychotherapists will provide a safe, non-judgmental and compassionate space in which you can discuss your conce
s and your feelings/thoughts, explore options to resolve these issues, and develop coping skills and emotional/mental resilience.