Patrick Allan at Life hacker, describes a quarter-life crisis as something that occurs between your twenties and thirties. You experience a low point in your life that is a trial of confusion identification, misguided purpose and hopeless transition, often around finding purpose at work and fulfilling relationships.
SO WHAT IS GOING ON?: UNDER 30 AND OVERWHELMED
In 2016, Simon Sinek, a British-American author and motivational speaker gave an interview in which he blamed lousy parenting, poor leadership, access to excessive technology and a culture of instant gratification for creating a whole generation of idealists without the grit or self-esteem to succeed in life. Yet, he is quick to point out that all this is through no fault of their own and that in fact they have been dealt a bad hand. It is his belief, that yes, there is an overwhelming amount of pressure on Millennials to distinguish themselves, to stand out but he does not feel that this frees them of responsibility nor should it be an excuse to play the victim.
He stated the main difference between his generation, (he is 43) and theirs, is that Millennials are getting overwhelmed with the pressure to find fulfilment and to be successful at a very young age. Every day is not meant to be perfect and that’s how life is. The twenties are meant to be a time to figure everything out. We are not meant to love life everyday.
He also talks about how growing up in the Facebook and Instagram era means that they have become accustomed to putting filters on everything. Portraying that their lives are amazing even when they may be quite depressed. Many Millennials are appearing tough – that life is all sorted out, but the reality is very different. Hence we are seeing so much anxiety, depression and stress in the Millennials.
MILLENNIALS ON MEDICATION: TIME TO BREAK THE SILENCE.
On 13 December, 2017, Louis Hanson’s article called “Millennials on Medication: Time to Break the Silence”, appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald. In this article, she cited The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2013 snapshot of the medication used by a nation and found that Australia was the second highest prescriber of antidepressants in the world. The daily dosage of medication has doubled between 2000 and 2013. When Louis asked some of his Millennial friends who have recently gone public about their use of antidepressants, why they kept it a secret for so long, one friend stated, “I was ashamed because I felt that I did not have the ability to cope and that was a weakness I didn’t see any of my other friends going through.”
WHY ARE MILLENNIALS SO STRESSED?
Allison Osborn explains the quarter-life crisis in her Ted Talk called “Why are Millennials so stressed?” She describes it as a personal identity crisis, typically experienced in your twenties and thirties involving profound angst and anxiety about the direction of one’s life. This often occurs in the transition from the academic world to the real world.
If you are a Millennial and you can relate to any of the above topics, counselling can really help. I have counselled many Millennials to help them get through their quarter-life crisis. I think that they are such a fantastic generation and they have such bright careers ahead of them. We need you guys to reach your fullest potential – we are counting on you.