Adolescence is generally known to be a tumultuous stage in every individual’s life. In this particular stage, bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever. According to Erik Erikson, in this stage, individuals ages 12-18 are seeking to establish an identity; a stage also known as identity vs. role confusion. Erickson theorizes that in such a stage, adolescents have certain tasks, one of which is identifying who they are.
The adolescence stage also entails a variety of personal challenges and limitations faced as well as needs to be met, including: attention, guidance, independence, stability, among other needs. If their needs are not met, adolescents are more vulnerable and at risk to develop mental health problems just like any other individual going through dramatic changes in their lives. Therefore, an adolescent with a mental health condition faces more needs than an adolescent without a mental health condition. Unfortunately, the mental health field is known to lack in services and individuals with mental health conditions are often prone to being stigmatized. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental health conditions can arise due to a variety of biopsychosocial factors. They can develop due to a significant life event, it could be genetic, and it could also develop due to an individual’s environment. Similarly, the type of mental health
Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.
According to Erik Erikson, adolescence is marked by the child’s questioning his or her identity during what he refers to as the identity versus identity confusion developmental stage. During this phase, the adolescent becomes mindful of his or her identity and seeks his or her purpose in life, as well as the answer to the eternal question, “who
With respect to Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, the adolescence is the stage of identity versus role confusion. He also believes that identity as the significant personality achievement of adolescence is an essential step toward becoming a productive happy adult (Feldman, 2006). I remember so vividly my high school experience; especially
They are able to make even the smallest change in the community, when mental health and mental illness intertwine that is when things start getting complicated. Mental illness refers to a variety of different mental health conditions and or disorders that may affect one’s mood, thinking and behaviour. There are many mental illnesses that one could develop such as, depression, which its a major depressive disorder, is a common and a serious disorder, it negatively affects how one feels, thinks and act, Anxiety Disorder is a group of mental disorders characterized by significant feeling of fear and anxiety. Even though most mental illnesses are somewhat treatable, they can make you miserable and cause you problems in your daily life activities. Throughout many researches, doctors and psychiatrists have narrowed the cause of mental illness to three factors. One being the general inherited traits which could be found common in people whose blood relatives also have a mental illness. Another main factor could be from environmental exposures before birth such as alcohol or drug, toxins while in the womb can also be linked to
Adolescence is a time when everything we've ever known is being changed. Relationships, friends, thoughts, and other things that shape who we are become more awkward and confusing and are changed from what they have been in the past. Consequently, we will change also because all these things shape who we are. During a period of such change, it's hard to know who we really are. Adolescence is the time when we find out who we truly are, but not until we know who we aren't. Adolescents use common words, actions, and rivalries to try to define their unique personalities, goals, and ideas. They label
One of the theorists to investigate the development of identity would be Erik Erikson. According to Erikson (1968), throughout an individual’s life-span, they experience conflicts. These conflicts arise at certain points in life and need to be successfully resolved for the progression in to the next of Erikson’s eight stages (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). The specific stage relevant to the development of identity formation in adolescence would be the ‘identity versus role confusion’ stage. Identity development involves exploring options and making commitments to obtain a relatively stable self-perception (DeHaan & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast, role confusion occurs when individuals are not able to commit specific life choices (DeHaan & MacDermid,
Erik Erikson named the stage of adolescents “identity versus role confusion” (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E. pg. 343). This is a pivotal time in an individual’s life where many future endeavors; personal, academic, and professional, depend on the outcome of this stage. During this time, adolescents are trying to refine the many facets of their personality such as, political, sexual, religiousness, just to name a few. This is an arduous
Mental health has been a recurring topic in present society and it is a very large section of health care in general. Health can be termed as an absence of disease, but it really is much more than that and should encompass every facet of the human, mind and body. The WHO defines mental health as a state of well-being in which an individual can function properly and productively, cope with life stressors, and contribute to community. Mental health is dependent on many factors, mainly social, biological, and psychological (WHO). A mental disorder is a condition of alterations
Culture, ethnicity, family, sexuality, and society are all factors that can influence a person’s identity. A combination of all these elements usually result in the successful discovery of self-identity. Preadolescents and adolescents often find themselves in a constant battle attempting to find who they are or who they want to be. Adolescents are faced with questions like, What do you want to be when you grow up? What colleges are you looking into? What are your plans after high school?. In a normal process of growth, teens experiment with new activities in order to find their identity, but this is not the case for every teen. Some adolescents do not go through the normal process of experimentation for various reasons.
“Identity Development “ Identity is most simply defined as a person's own sense of self; their personal sense of who they are. Identity development is intrinsically linked with adolescence because, according to John Santrock author of the book entitled Adolescence 15th edition, "...for the first time, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development advance to the point at which the individual can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and identifications to construct a viable path toward adult maturity.” We often see the results of this sorting process in behaviors of adolescents such as adopting and shedding different personas, including speech patterns, clothing styles and peer groups. Although these transitions
As adolescents go through an identity crisis, they are able to “discover themselves”. They can also discover occupations, religion, etc. by organizing their needs, abilities, talents, interests, background, culture, and peer demands. This allows them to figure out what they like and help figure out their expectations on topics. In doing this, they are able to figure out their identity.
Two of the most elusive components of adolescent development are identity and sexuality. The discovery of identity is a puzzling and frustrating experience, especially during adolescence. The pressure to conform is constant and sometimes inescapable. Unfortunately, many young adults collapses under the peer pressure and it takes years for them to find their own uniqueness and individuality.
“In the teenage years, young people begin their quests for identity” (Bellows 2). According to Dr. Amy Bellows in her article “Your Teen’s Search for Identity”; our teenage years is the time period when we scour for an identity, although we find a struggle to find our true identity. Status symbols, forbidden behaviors, rebellion, idols, and cliquish exclusion are the most common ways in which us as teenagers struggle with our identity (Bellows 2-7). In other words, peer pressure and self-esteem are some of the factors that can mislead us from the path towards our “ideal” identity. Furthermore, searching for an identity influences one’s future.
The mental health of adolescents is fairly considered to be one of the major prerequisites of the country 's sustainable development in economics, culture, and social life. Subsequently, the easy and nondiscriminatory access to the psychological treatment appears to be a matter of top priority for the federal government. Nevertheless, the recent statistical data indicates the substantial problems in terms of providing the adolescents with the necessary medical support. In accordance with the US Department of Health & Human Services, in 2014, less than 50% of the country 's adolescent population were provided with a required treatment (US Department of Health & Human Services). Moreover, the data on the minorities ' access to the mental health treatment demonstrates that, for instance, African-Americans are twice as likely as whites to be prescribed a treatment from schizophrenia (American Psychological Association). Undoubtedly, such a trend may be primarily explained by the insufficient efforts of both federal and local health care institutions in terms of providing the minorities ' representatives with the necessary psychological treatment. Consequently, in order to understand comprehensively the problem of the adolescent mental health in the US, it is necessary to define the issue-related objective and subjective concerns as well as to analyze the peculiarities of a potential corrective to the
Adolescence is the fifth stage in Erikson's psychosocial development theory. It is posited to last from ages 12 to 18, and the basic conflict inherent in the adolescent stage, which the person must resolve, is between identity and role confusion. This conflict between identity and role confusion especially plays itself out in peer relationships, but the teenager also navigates through identity and role confusion with relationships in the family unit. Identity and role confusion issues can arise with sexuality, as well as worldviews.