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IDENTITY

If you’re experiencing an identity crisis, you may be questioning your sense of self or identity. This can often occur due to big changes or stressors in life, or due to factors such as age or advancement from a certain stage (for example, school, work, or childhood).

Here’s what you need to know about identity crises, if you might be having one, and what you can do.

Symptoms of an identity crisis

Here are the signs you may be experiencing an identity crisis:

  • You’re questioning who you are — overall or with regards to a certain life aspect such as relationships, age, or career.
  • You’re experiencing great personal conflict due to the questioning of who you are or your role in society.
  • Big changes have recently occurred that have affected your sense of self, such as a divorce.
  • You’re questioning things such as your values, spirituality, beliefs, interests, or career path that have a major impact on how you see yourself.
  • You’re searching for more meaning, reason, or passion in your life.

It’s completely normal to question who you are, especially since we change throughout our lives. However, when it begins to affect your daily thinking or functioning, you may be having a crisis of identity.

 

Any type of crisis can also result in a decline in your mental health. Viewing yourself or your life negatively has been shown to be a marker for vulnerability to depression.

  • Symptoms of depression can include:
  • depressed mood or feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness
  • loss of interest in things once enjoyed
  • fatigue
  • irritability
  • changes in appetite or weight
  • issues with concentration, energy levels, motivation, and sleep

 

Treatment for an identity crisis

Questioning your sense of self may be stressful, but it can actually be a good thing in the long term. Knowing who you are better and adapting to changes can help you grow as a person.

Here are some things you can do to get through an identity crisis:

Look inward and explore. Take some time out to really look within yourself and ask yourself some questions about what you like and don’t like anymore.

Ask yourself questions and see if you can answer them over time and if the answers help you figure things out. Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers — and they may change from year to year, or decade to decade.

Questions might include qualities and characteristics that define you; your values and what is working in opposition to them; your interests, passions, and hobbies. If you’re experiencing a major life change, how things have changed for you.

 

Search for joy and other ways to cope

What makes you happy? What gives your life a sense of purpose and joy?

Other people’s expectations as well as our own can have a big effect on how we’re feeling. But don’t let society’s standards dictate who you are and what you should like.

Just because you’re of a certain age, gender, or cultural group, doesn’t mean that you need to follow along if you no longer believe in what you’re following.

Your self-perception is important to your overall well-being, and spending time and energy on judgmental thinking can get you nowhere. It may take time for the people you love to understand any changes you make, but you’ll be happier in the long term if you’re true to yourself.

 

Find support

If the stress ever gets to be too much, consider seeking help. At Wellbeing Center, we help you resolve and cope with what’s going on.

 

Sense of self and identity is important to everyone. Although having an identity crisis can make you feel lost or frustrated, these types of crises can also be fundamentally helpful.

Questioning your sense of self, your purpose, and your values can help you gain a better sense of you who are and who you will be. Remember, change is a part of life, and looking back you will see that you’ve been changing all along.