Adolescence represents a stage when a child reaches puberty and involves many biological changes. The period involves dramatic changes involving transitions in sexual, social, physical, and intellectual aspects. Psychological changes also remain apparent during adolescence. Adolescents undergo stress and depression due to ongoing bodily and hormonal changes. Coleman defines adolescence as a stage when an individual understands the concept of self-identity in relation to the social world. Adolescents assert more autonomous controls in decision-making, emotions, and actions, thus disengaging them from parental controls. Intense socialization processes also impact the routine of adolescents (Choudhury, Blakemore, & Charman1, 2006).
During adolescence, I encountered a psychological crisis due to the ongoing changes. The significant milestone for me during this stage was handling socialization processes as my behavior was becoming aggressive. I used to spend most of my time in my room and maintained distance from my family. The sexual and hormonal changes disturbed me and put me on a stage where I faced psychological problems. I would relate my personal experiences of adolescence to Erikson’s theory of development. I find the concept of identity and ego identity more relevant to the adolescent’s development as it affects thinking and routine activities. The development during this stage relies on the person as I struggled to find my identity. Socially engaging with people was more stressful for me at that time as I was already adjusting to the biological and psychological transitions. I struggled to fit in the society and strived to develop a moral attitude to accept differences between right and wrong. The major milestone during the period was the comment of my parents, ‘You need to grow up now!” The comment was alarming and an indication that I am no longer a child (Fleming, 2004).
Confusion and upheaval were also visible during my period of adolescence as I switched to a mature and grown-up person. It was also a sign of entering adulthood in the next few years, thus evoking emotions of fear. I find the relevance of my experiences with Erikson’s development theory of identity versus role confusion. During my adolescence; the milestone influenced me negatively as I was not in a state of accepting my role as a grown-up individual. It was difficult for me to accept that all the privileges of the children were gone, and people expected me to behave like a sensible and mature being. They even put me in a constant state of conflict where I had to fight between desire and the socialization process (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Another problem explored during the period was independence. During childhood, I relied more on my parents, but in adolescence, my parent offered less help. They were trying to teach me how I should behave in adolescence and take responsibility for myself. During this stage of development, I had to learn about my new roles and what I needed to take as an adult. The circumstances put me in a condition where I had to re-examine my identity and accept myself as a different person from the past (Sokol, 2009).
I also relate my experience of adolescence with Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. I faced difficulties during my interactions with people because they expected me to act maturely. The cognition and emotional functioning were undergoing a transition, as identified by Erikson. The adolescent state represents the relevance between cognitive functioning and depression. Due to the sexual changes, I used to feel uncomfortable most of the time, which provoked me to maintain distance from people (Malone, Liu, Vaillant, & Dorene M. Rentz, 2016).
References
Choudhury, S., Blakemore, S.-J., & Charman1, T. (2006). Social cognitive development during adolescence. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci,1(3), 65–174.
Fleming, J. S. (2004). Erikson’s Psychosocial Developmental Stages.
Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., & Dorene M. Rentz, a. R. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian Psychosocial Development: Setting the Stage for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Late Life. Dev Psychol, 52(3), 496–508.
Sokol, J. T. (2009). Density Development Throughout the Lifetime: An Examination of Eriksonian Theory,” Graduate Journal of. Graduate Journal of Counseling Psychology: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 14.
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT. Annu. Rev. Psychol, 52, 83–110.
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