The quarter life crisis, characterized by disillusionment, frustration, and insecurity, is increasingly recognized by health professionals. It is often fueled by the challenges of transitioning from college to the workforce, including difficulty finding work and adjusting to new communication techniques. Self-help books and career counseling can be helpful in coping with this crisis.
The quarter life crisis can be contrasted with the midlife crisis. It is a phenomenon that is increasingly gaining recognition from a number of health professionals. In most definitions, the quarter life crisis can refer to disillusionment, anguish, frustration, and insecurity that might occur during the second or third decade of life. Many of these crises may be fueled by the challenges of adjusting to the world after leaving college and the discovery by many students that the struggle to get through college hasn’t ended all struggle.
People who experience a quarter life crisis can have several different symptoms. They may miss school, be disappointed in the financial prospects their job offers, be unable to find work commensurate with their education or salary expectations, and may mistakenly believe that others are having an easier time than they are. Other hallmarks of this type of crisis include an inability to let go of strong opinions, an inability to articulate identity, and difficulty maintaining relationships, both new ones and those that started in high school and college.
When a person is going through huge transitions like that from college or vocational school to the workforce, a significant adjustment is needed. This takes time, but until recently, many students were wrongly informed that going to college would set them up for life. This impression, that college, once accomplished, would translate into success and ease, can make transitions to work tougher. Furthermore, unreliable job markets and stiff competition for some types of work combined with pay that may not yield much more than a living wage mean that there is nothing settled or settled about life. Just making money can be very difficult, especially when a person can also pay off significant student loans.
In some ways, the transition from school to work is what most people go through, but the angst, insecurity, burnout, or frustration associated with relationships can be new. Some theorists writing on the quarter-life crisis suggest that one problem may be that the transition to the workforce means that expectations are less clearly defined than they were in a college or high school setting. This means that those new to the job have to learn numerous new communication techniques at once, and these are not always predictable from job to job. Such work can be exhausting, and a person experiencing a quarter-life crisis may envy anyone else who seems to accomplish it easily.
Disappointment with a lack of good education and a good job can also fuel this type of crisis. In many developed countries there has been increased competition for jobs and decreased wages. In the 2000s this was felt significantly and was the cause of quarter life crises in many generations of X’ers and millennials. The increased involvement of parents of many children who are millennials can fuel crises or quarter-life crises because children may be less adept at solving problems in employment relationships on their own.
There are some good quarter-life crisis self-help books, which can help 20- and 30-somethings realize that they are not alone in their confusion or despair. Career counseling can also be helpful in learning to adapt to changing situations and expectations. Since many people feel depressed during this time, it may be a good idea to seek counseling with a good mental health professional to talk through the difficulties and make some plans that are realistic for your circumstances.
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