Age-related crises represent natural changes in the human psyche depending on the stage of development. They manifest themselves in changes in worldview, the nature of the reaction to familiar things and the basic line of behavior.
At each age, a person performs certain social roles and tasks. With age they also change, which can cause a crisis.
L. Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist who studied the cognitive development of a child, defined a crisis as a turning point in the normal course of mental development, when changes in the personality structure accumulate, age-related neoplasms appear and lead to sharp shifts in development.
L. Vygotsky called a new formation a qualitatively new type of personality and human interaction with reality, which was absent as a whole at the previous stages of its development. At each age stage, he identified a central neoplasm, which characterizes the restructuring of a person’s entire personality on a new basis, and private neoplasms related to individual aspects of the personality.
Also, a person’s needs and motivations change, which shape their behavior.
According to L. Vygotsky, it is possible to determine the signs of “normal childhood development” and stable stages. Normal development begins at the time of birth and ends at age 17.
Any transition period is accompanied by a stress reaction of the body, against the background of which increased personal irritability develops from misunderstanding and lack of adaptation. This is considered normal. But if the social environment exerts pressure and does not contribute to a smooth passage of the transition stage, then the crisis may drag on or transform into more serious conditions.
Concept and essence
An age crisis is a special stage in personality development, which, if unfavorable, can become a negative turning point in life. This term was first introduced by Vygotsky. For each age, psychology has a number of norms that experts pay attention to when examining individual people. If there are deviations from the norms, a method for correcting them is developed.
It is believed that age-related crises are necessary to change the human psyche, but many psychologists do not agree with this. The opinion of scientists on this matter is divided into 2 types:
- Erikson, Vygotsky, Freud believed that age-related crises are an integral stage of human development.
- Zaporozhets and Rubinstein assumed that age-related crises arise individually for each person.
Most crisis situations occur not only as a result of growing up, but also under the influence of surrounding factors.
Reasons for appearance
Midlife crisis in men - what is it, when does it begin?
The cause of crises lies in the emergence of contradictions between new needs that are no longer satisfied and current or past conditions. Each period of age-related development has an incentive for future change and development - this is the basis for the formation of the individual.
Note! In each period of crisis, differences between limited capabilities, new needs and social experience (the reaction of loved ones) increase. Today, according to psychologists, this dissonance is considered as a driving force in the development of the psyche.
Main types
Table of age-related crises in psychology:
| Name | Period | Description |
| Newborns | From 0 to 12 months | Due to sudden changes in the baby’s life. The environment and nutrition are changing. A crisis helps a child get used to new living conditions. |
| 1 year | At 1 year | It arises against the background of increasing needs of the child and growth of his capabilities. The main achievement of the transition period is the development of speech. |
| 3 years | At 3 years old | A difficult period in a child's life. The baby begins to realize his personal self, separates from adults, and tries to establish serious relationships with them. |
| 7 years | Can begin not only at 7, but also at 6, 8 years old | The child discovers a new social position - he becomes a schoolchild. There is a reassessment of values, views change, and many new acquaintances appear. |
| Puberty | From 11 to 16 years old | Caused by puberty. The production of various hormones is activated, active physiological and physical development occurs. The emotional background becomes unstable. More often, the puberty crisis drags on for many months and can lead to the development of psychological disorders. |
| Youth | From 16 to 18 years old | After graduating from school, the teenager moves on to adulthood. Some people are afraid of growing up and are looking for any way to continue learning. A small proportion of former students go to work to try something new. |
| Youth | From 20 to 30 years | It is determined by the formation of a person in society. He finds a job, changes housing, begins a love relationship. |
| Maturity | From 33 to 35 years old | There is an analysis of one’s own achievements and successes over the past stages of life. The nature of the crisis depends on what a person has achieved in his adult life. |
| Middle aged | From 45 to 55 years | At this age, a person’s reserve of strength runs out, his health weakens, and the gap with his children increases. This period is often accompanied by prolonged depression. |
| Late maturity | From 55 to 65 years | The condition stabilizes, the person begins to think more about the spiritual, and does not pay attention to the physical situation. Gradually the subject stops working and begins to analyze the past years. |
| Early old age | From 66 to 67 years old | At this stage of life, a crisis arises associated with worries about the life lived. If he was able to achieve great heights, the crisis situation will not cause many negative experiences. |
Crisis of three years
The last type is the crisis of old age. A person resigns himself to approaching death and does not pay attention to his health.
Periodization
In psychology, there are usually five childhood crises by age:
- 1 year - transition from infancy to early childhood;
- 3 years - transition to preschool age;
- 7 years - mastering school;
- 13 years - adolescence;
- 17 years old is the beginning of early adolescence.
However, this periodization is quite arbitrary. In the works of psychologists, textbooks, and various sources one can find other interpretations of it.
For example, there is an opinion that a separate newborn crisis should include the entire first year of a baby’s life, from birth to standing. In fact, every week there can be called a transition period, characterized by sharp jumps in physical condition.
According to another point of view, the crisis periods of 13 and 17 years should be combined into one - adolescence.
In some sources, the crisis of early adolescence is excluded from this periodization, since a seventeen-year-old person can hardly be called a child in the general sense of the word.
Such discrepancies in periodization should not be scary. Their descriptions are as similar as possible.
Structure and phases
Studying the psychology of individuals, Vygotsky identified 3 phases of age-related crises:
- Pre-critical phase. A person is worried about doubts associated with non-recognition of changes in environmental conditions. The individual imagines a pleasant possible future, but does not know how to achieve it.
- Critical stage. The contradiction between reality and its conscious acceptance reaches its maximum peak. A person tries to get closer to the ideals he sees, but more often his internal resources are not enough to achieve the necessary goal.
- Post-critical phase. Contradictions are weakened, the subject begins to build harmonious relationships with the outside world.
The phases develop sequentially. Their course is influenced by environmental factors, training, and upbringing.
Common psychological problems in women of Balzac age
Most people (not only women, but also men), having crossed a certain age line, begin to take stock of their own lives. They think about how their life would have turned out if they had entered a different department or chosen a different partner. In order to prevent the development of depressive and anxiety disorders, it is better to avoid such thoughts altogether. Advice from psychologists to women aged 40 to 50 can be boiled down to one simple phrase: avoid unconstructive thoughts.
The more a person reflects, while placing blame on himself for events that never happened, the more chances he has to get mired in a world of illusions. Women are especially prone to such self-criticism. Men are usually more relaxed about their own behavior and are not inclined, unlike women over 40 (although this trait is characteristic of the fair sex of any age), to engage in self-criticism and think about how life would have turned out if they had acted differently.
Features of overcoming
It is not always necessary to consult a psychologist during an age crisis. You can try to help yourself. To do this, it is recommended to perform several steps:
- Don't try to ignore the situation. You need to gather all your strength and try to overcome the difficult moment.
- Communicate more. To do this, you need to devote time to friends, relatives, and find new acquaintances. Positive emotions will help you cope with a crisis situation faster.
- Build the right daily routine. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day, the rest of the time divided between work and rest.
- Normalize nutrition. Eat 5-6 times a day in small portions. Eat more vegetables and fruits. Reduce the amount of fat you eat.
- To refuse from bad habits.
- Exercise. It is recommended to do exercises in the morning and go for a walk in the evening.
- Spend more time for yourself. If possible, ask for time off from work.
- Try to postpone any difficult matters or moments of making serious decisions until the psychological state is restored and the situation is stabilized.
- There is no need to compare yourself with other people. Each person is individual. It is advisable to try to find advantages in yourself and think about them as much as possible.
Typical psychological crises for women 40-45 years old
Most often, worries and aspirations about one’s supposedly failed life concern the following areas:
- relationships with a spouse or lover;
- relationships with your own children;
- changes in appearance;
- health problems;
- changed attitudes of work colleagues.
Russian women 40 years old are quite strikingly different from their peers living abroad. The lifestyle of “stopping a galloping horse and walking into a burning hut” cannot but affect the state of health and psyche. Forty years, by world standards, is the prime of life. And women 30-40 years old in our country almost always feel exhausted, tired of life and elderly. This is understandable: most often, upbringing does not instill healthy selfishness in girls. This leads to the fact that a woman tries to “take out” everything on herself: keeping the apartment clean, raising children, maintaining a sexy appearance for her husband, and making money. After a decade of such life, almost all representatives of the fair sex burn out both psychologically and physically.
When is the help of a psychologist needed?
You need to seek help from a psychologist if your general psychological state does not improve for a long time. The psychologist must conduct a series of tests to determine why an individual cannot cope with a crisis situation. After the diagnosis is completed, a course is selected to restore the general condition.
Psychology identifies several stages of an individual’s maturation. Each of them has characteristic features. There are intervals between individual age stages that are characterized by instability. They are called age-related crises. Each of them is caused by a change in the psyche, the perception of the surrounding world. If the crisis does not go away on its own and causes the development of depression and stress, you need to seek help from an experienced psychologist.
How to deal with relationship stress at work?
Psychologists' advice on how to learn to come to terms with your career situation all boils down to one thing: understand that almost nothing depends on personality and professional qualities. Of course, this is not a reason to perform your official duties carelessly.
Women differ from men in their more serious approach to responsibilities. They are responsible and scrupulous. Stories about blondes who only think about flirting in the workplace are just a myth. The psychology of a woman at 40 is a clear confirmation of this. There are more middle-level managers among women of this age than men. If education or a combination of circumstances does not allow you to occupy such a position, then you should distract yourself and devote yourself to some other area in life.
Relationships with their own children as a cause of psychological crisis in women over forty
“Little children are little troubles,” as the famous proverb goes. In our country, it was customary to give birth as early as possible. Now, fortunately, this trend is fading. Modern women aged 40-45 tend to have children in their teens or older. Relationships with them are often a real test for the mother’s psyche.
It is worth accepting the fact that a child is an individual person with his own worldview. If his family helped him get an education, then he is free to build his life as he sees fit. If a woman has a painful connection with her child, then it is worth breaking it off. Very often this crisis lasts for years. In order to get out of the vicious circle, you need the help of a psychologist or psychotherapist.
How to improve your relationship with your spouse after many years of marriage
Advice from a psychologist on maintaining mutual respect in marriage:
- There is no need to humiliate yourself and try to keep your partner at any cost - value yourself, your time and personal space.
- If your spouse insists on a divorce or has started a relationship on the side, you should give him complete freedom of action, mentally say goodbye to him, and immerse yourself in your hobbies and, perhaps, make new acquaintances.
- We must try to live our own bright and fulfilling life - travel, visit exhibitions and festivals, meet friends with thematic interests (do this even if the spouse does not share women’s hobbies, because these are the personal boundaries of every woman, and she is able to manage them as she sees fit).
- You cannot build your life only around the interests of your husband and children; this is a direct path to losing respect from your household. A woman at any age should have her own hobbies, her own core, which will allow her to always remain calm.
