What Is an Identity Crisis?
An identity crisis is a time in life when an individual begins to seriously quest for answers about the nature of their being and the search for an identity. 20th century developmental psychologist Erik Erikson developed this term, which is used frequently. He used it mostly to apply to the period of transition in the teenage years when kids begin to define what they will do as adults, and what their values are. It is now thought that an identity crisis may occur at any time of life, especially in periods of great transition. Most teens go through periods of defiance against parental figures and other authorities. Part of this “defining against” caretaking figures is identity crisis. Though kids may make extremely poor choices when they choose to defy parents, they are often participating in a deep exploration of self that will help them determine what they will do and who they will be as they enter adulthood. For parents, watching a child enter the identity crisis stage is often fearf
