If you are in a depressed state, you are aware of the decay of being, worry and think about your own imperfection, do not worry - this is temporary. And if your emotional state is in balance and nothing bothers you, do not flatter yourself - perhaps this is not for long.
All human life consists of numerous psychophysiological periods, each of which is characterized by certain emotional levels. The end of each period is fraught with a psychological crisis of age. This is not a diagnosis, it is part of life, age-related psychophysiological characteristics of a person. Forewarned is forearmed. It is easy to overcome the age crisis by understanding what exactly happens in the body at one time or another.
Age and age features
From birth to death, a person goes through many stages of personality development. The human psyche is changing, rebuilding and developing throughout life. A person lives both emotionally stable periods and crisis stages of personality development, which are characterized by an unstable emotional background.
Psychologists gradually describe the age-related psychological characteristics. The most obvious changes associated with the mental development of personality in childhood and adolescence. This period is characterized by the most striking bursts of emotional instability. Such periods are usually associated with a crisis of age. But do not be afraid of the terrible word "crisis." Usually, such a difficult and emotionally unstable period ends with a qualitative leap in development in childhood, and an adult overcomes another step on the path to the formation of a mature personality.
Stable period and age crisis
Both a stable period of development and crisis nature are characterized by qualitative changes in personality. Stable psycho-emotional stages are characterized by a long duration. Such periods of calm usually end with a qualitative positive leap in development. The personality changes, and the new acquired skills and knowledge remain for a long time, often without crowding out the ones already formed.
A crisis is a natural occurrence in the psychoemotional state of a person. Under adverse conditions, such periods can stretch up to 2 years. These are short but stormy stages of personality formation, which also bring new changes in character and behavior. What is meant by adverse conditions affecting the length of the crisis period? This is, first of all, incorrectly built relations "man - society". Denial by others of the new needs of the individual. Crisis periods in the development of children should be especially noted here.
Parents and caregivers often focus on the difficult education of children during critical periods of their development.
"I do not want and I will not!" Can a crisis be avoided?
Psychologists argue that the vivid manifestations of a critical period are not a child’s problem, but a society that is not ready for a change in behavior. Age features of children are formed from birth and change throughout life under the influence of education. The formation of the child’s personality takes place in society, which has a direct impact on the psycho-emotional development of the individual. Childhood crises are often associated with socialization. It is impossible to avoid a crisis as such, but properly built child-adult relationships help shorten the duration of this period.
The crisis of a young age occurs due to the inability of the baby to satisfy his new needs. At 2 or 3 years old, he realizes his independence and seeks to make decisions independently. But because of his age, he cannot assess the situation soundly or is unable to physically perform any action. An adult comes to the rescue, but this causes a clear protest from the baby. You tell your child to follow a flat road, and he deliberately crawls into puddles or mud. When you offer to go home, the child runs away to chase pigeons. All attempts to pull the blanket over themselves end in children's hysteria and tears.
No exit?
It seems to all parents in such periods that the child does not hear them, and frequent negative emotional outbursts knock out of the rut. At such moments, it is important to save face, no matter how difficult it is, and remember that you are one adult in this situation and only you are able to build constructive communication.
What to do? The answer to children's tantrums
If a child seeks to make decisions independently, it is worth helping to make him an adequate choice. What to do if a tantrum happened? It is not always necessary to rush headlong to console a child, promising him golden mountains in return for silence and tranquility. Of course, at first it will be the fastest way to end hysteria, and in the future it will lead to elementary blackmail by the child. Children learn to understand causation very quickly, so realizing why he suddenly gets sweets or a toy, he will demand this with a cry.
Of course, you can’t ignore the feelings of the child, but in some cases you can safely explain that such behavior is his own choice, and if he is comfortable in this state, so be it. Often, age-related features in the form of moods and tantrums of children aged 2-3 years are a test of strength, a search for the limits of permissibility, and it is important to clearly define these boundaries, thereby not depriving the child of the right to choose. He can sit in the middle of the street and cry or go with his parents to see where that blue truck went — it's his choice. At the age of 2-3 years, you can delegate elementary household chores to the baby: make out a package with purchases, feed a pet or bring cutlery. This will help the child to adequately perceive their independence.
The main critical periods of development of young children
The first critical period in early childhood occurs in newborns. And it is called a newborn crisis. This is a natural stage in the development of a new person who suddenly faced a catastrophic change in environmental conditions. Helplessness, coupled with awareness of one's own physical life, contributes to stress for a small organism. Usually, weight loss is characteristic of the first weeks of a child’s life - this is a consequence of stress due to a global change in conditions and a complete restructuring of the body. The main task that the child has to solve during the critical period of his development (newborn crisis) is to gain confidence in the world around him. And the world for the crumbs of the first months of life is primarily his family.
The child expresses his needs and feelings through crying. This is the only way he can communicate in the first months of his life. All age periods are characterized by a specific set of needs and ways of expressing these needs. No need to reinvent the wheel, trying to understand what a child needs 2 months and why he is crying. Only the basic primary needs are characteristic of the neonatal period: nutrition, sleep, comfort, warmth, health, cleanliness. Part of the needs of the child is able to satisfy independently, but the main task of the adult is to provide conditions for meeting all the necessary needs of the baby. The first crisis period ends with the emergence of attachment. Using the example of the neonatal crisis, one can clearly explain that all the features of behavior and emotional state in certain periods of life are caused by the emergence of a qualitative neoplasm as a result. A newborn baby goes through many stages of accepting himself and his body, calls for help, he realizes that he receives the necessary expressing emotions, and learns to trust.
First year crisis
Age and individual characteristics of a person are formed under the influence of society and depend on communication skills with the outside world. In the first year of life, the child begins to enter into communication with the environment, learns certain boundaries. The level of his needs is increasing, and the way to achieve his goals is changing accordingly.
A gap appears between desires and the way they are expressed. This is the reason for the beginning of the critical period. The child must master speech in order to satisfy new needs.
The crisis of three years
Age features of a child of three years are associated with the formation of personality and own will. This difficult period is characterized by disobedience, protests, stubbornness and negativity. The child is aware of the conventionality of the designated boundaries, understands its indirect connection with the world and actively manifests its "I".
But this critical period plays a very important role in the ability to formulate your goals and find adequate ways to achieve them.
Avoid crisis
Human development is not a spontaneous and far from spasmodic process, but a completely uniform course subject to rational management and self-regulation. The age characteristics of children and adults depend on the results of communication with the outside world and oneself. The reason for the emergence of critical periods is the incorrect completion of a stable period of personality development. A person comes to the stage of completing one period with specific needs and goals, but cannot understand what to do with it. There is an internal contradiction.
Can critical periods be avoided? Speaking of preventing the crisis in childhood, it is worth paying attention to the zone of proximal development. What does it mean?
One step ahead
In the learning process, it is worth highlighting the level of actual and potential development. The level of actual development of a child is determined by his ability to independently perform certain actions without outside help. This applies to simple everyday issues, and to tasks related to intellectual activity. The principle of the zone of proximal development is an emphasis on the level of potential development of the child. This level implies that the child is able to decide in collaboration with adults. A similar principle of learning will help expand the boundaries in its development.
Theoretically and practically, this method can also be used by adults. After all, critical periods are characteristic of all ages.
Adult crises
Children's spontaneity, youthful maximalism, senile grunts - all these age-related features of a person characterize critical periods of his development. At the age of 12-15, young people are very aggressively trying to climb a notch, proving their maturity and a stable worldview.
Negativism, protest, egocentrism are common age-related characteristics of schoolchildren.
The turbulent period of adolescent maximalism, which is characterized by a young man’s zeal to take a more adult position, replaces the period of adulthood. And here comes either a long emotionally stable period, or another crisis associated with determining your life path. This critical period has no clear boundaries. It can overtake a 20-year-old person, and can suddenly complement middle-aged crises (and complicate them even more).
Whom I want to become?
Many people cannot find the answer to this question throughout their lives. A wrong choice of life path can negatively affect the awareness of one’s destiny. Not always a person has complete power over his fate. Remember that a person will melt in the harsh conditions of the social environment.
Life paths are often also chosen by their parents for children. Some give freedom of choice, directing in a certain direction, while others deprive their children of their right to vote, deciding their professional fate on their own. Neither the first nor the second case guarantees the avoidance of a critical period. But accepting one's own mistake is often easier than finding the perpetrators of their fiasco.
The cause of the critical period is often the incorrect completion of the previous period, the absence of a certain tipping point. Using the example of the question “what I want to become,” it is quite simple to explain and understand.
This question accompanies us from childhood. It happens that, knowing the exact answer, we gradually move towards achieving our goal and as a result we become what we dreamed of becoming in childhood: a doctor, teacher, businessman. If this desire is conscious, the satisfaction of the need for self-realization and, accordingly, self-satisfaction comes.
Further events will develop in a different plane - development in the profession, satisfaction or disappointment. But the main task of the growing up period is completed, and the crisis can be avoided.
But very often, the question “what do I still want to become” can accompany a person for a very long time. And now, it would seem, a person has already grown, but still has not decided. Numerous attempts at self-realization fail, but there is still no answer to the question. And this snowball, growing, rolls from one period to another, often exacerbating the crisis of 30 years and the crisis of middle age.
Crisis 30 years
Thirty years is a period when productivity in family relationships becomes a counterweight to creative stagnation. At this age, it is common for a person to overestimate his satisfaction with his personal and professional life. Often during this period, people get divorced or quit under the pretext of “capable of more” (remember the question “who I want to be”).
The main task of the critical period of 30 years is to subordinate their activities to the idea. Either firmly follow the intended goal in the chosen direction, or designate a new goal. This applies to both family life and professional activities.
Middle age crisis
When you are no longer young, but old age is still not slapping on the shoulder, it's time to come to a reassessment of values. It's time to think about the meaning of life. The search for the basic idea and predestination, maladaptation are age-related features of the maturity period.
Sometimes a person descends from his pedestal in order to reconsider his ideas and goals, look back on his path and accept mistakes. In a critical period, a certain contradiction is resolved: a person either leaves for the family circle, or goes beyond narrowly defined boundaries, showing interest in the fate of people outside the family circle.
Summary crisis
Old age is a time of summing up, integration and an objective assessment of the passed stage. This is the most difficult stage when there is a decrease in social status, deterioration of physical condition. A man looks back and rethinks his decisions and actions. The main question to be answered is: “Am I satisfied?”
At different poles are people who make their own lives and their decisions, and those who feel indignation and dissatisfaction with their lives. Often, the latter project their discontent on others. Old age is distinguished by wisdom.
Two simple questions will help to make right decisions in any critical period: “Who do I want to be?” and "Am I Satisfied?" How it works? If the answer to the question “am I satisfied” is yes, you are on the right track. If negative, go back to the question “who do I want to be” and look for the answer.