Quarter Life Crisis

Just a quickie before I get ready for my day - I am glad to report I am back at work and on the road to recovery! 


This started with my Facebook status earlier this week...

"Not to be dramatic, but can you have a quarter life crisis? I am SO confused. And I totally want to be blonde."

I didn't expect anything from it, just venting as I am super confused about life right now (sinusitis sure gives you time to think, and apparently, time to want to change your hair colour), but then a good friend recommended a book...

Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties 

Then I got Googling, a quickly learnt there is a Wikipedia page for 'Quarter Life Crisis';

"The quarterlife crisis is a period of life following the major changes of adolescence, 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."

OK, so, other people have obviously thought this way.

A 2010 Age article (which is where I got the above image, which is a bit depressing and annoying), talks about a Quarter Life Crisis, as described by the above book, as something triggered by "Instability, change and helplessness".... I don't really know if I have any of these elements.  I am stable in most ways, the only change I've had is from full time work to part time work/part time uni, and I don't really feel helpless, just confused.

Image Cred

Plan of action?  Not worry too much and continuously bounce ideas off my great friends.  &, in a few weeks when I've finished my current books, read the above.

I also have chosen to turn this feeling into one of excitement for new discoveries.  

I'll finish with this quiz published by the Huffington Post in 2009, in case you are wondering if you too are having a Qaurter Life Crisis.. though I am not sure how I feel about these questions yet as I answered no to the majority of them. For entertainment value, here we go;

Am I having a Quarter Life Crisis?

1. Are you in a "funk" where you feel like nothing is terribly wrong, but nothing seems right either?
2. Do you feel older for the first time in your life?
3. Are you unmotivated, directionless or passionless?
4. Are you concerned that you don't know what you want to do with your life?
5. Do you feel pressure to grow up and get your adult life in order? 
6. Do you feel entitled to a life much grander than the one you are living?
7. Do you often feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, lost, and maybe even a little hopeless?
8. Do you feel a lot of pressure and expectations to do, have or be something?
9. Do you ever feel that time is running out in regards to figuring out your career and deciding whether you want to get married and/or have children?
10. Are you stressed out by choices that seemingly will affect the rest of your life?
11. Are you experiencing confusion or disappointment in your career?
12. Do you feel that you have failed because you don't know what you want to do with your life?
13. Do you know what you want to do, but can't seem to make it work?
14. Is it difficult for you to make decisions and when you do, you question them?
15. Do you overanalyze yourself?
16. Do you ever feel guilty for complaining about your life or feel like you are disappointing people (especially your parents)?
17. Are you embarrassed that you have not figured out more?
18. Is a breakup, romantic relationship, or lack of one causing you stress and/or sadness?
19. Are you still living at home with mom and dad?
20. Do you frequently compare yourself to other people your age and feel like you don't measure up?
21. Do you feel financially unstable?
22. Could your self-esteem use an upgrade?
23. Are you thinking about going back to grad school because you don't know what else to do with your life?
24. Are you constantly thinking about the future resulting in anxiety and possibly panic?
25. Is your life just not at all turning out like you planned?

I'll finish by saying that if you feel any, some or all of the above, please never feel ashamed to see a psychologist or give Lifeline a call.  I think that talking things through is a seriously underused treatment.

Stay well,

Nat x