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In-Between Years
In-Between Years
The road to adulthood is a bumpy one. There are detours, potholes, flat tires, and inconsistent cell service.
Emerging adulthood is a developmental period riddled with instability. You switch majors, try out different jobs, meet new people, date around, take risks, and do things you don't want your parents to know about. You have few obligations, many possibilities. Too many possibilities.
Phases of Young Adulthood
Phases of Young Adulthood
You can divide emerging adulthood into an early phase, 18 to 23, and a later phase, 24 to 30.
Generally, the early phase is the most unstable. This is when young people are figuring out who they are. There is no urgency to settle down or decide on a career. They prioritize experimentation, trying out different majors, diverse friend groups, and new boyfriends and girlfriends. Young adults at this stage differentiate themselves from their parents, articulating their own opinions and beliefs. They become their own person, clearer about who they are, their values, and the kinds of people they want to surround themselves with. Although often still financially supporting their young adults, parents become less like supervisors and more like advisors, consultants, and friends. Impulsivity and risky behaviors, which in excess can derail development, are common during this stage, partly due to young adults' still developing frontal lobes.
As twenty-somethings approach 30, everything becomes more serious. Decisions are more consequential. Romantic relationships are long-term. Many establish a profession or trade, attaining financial independence from parents. Young people at this stage are expected to have "launched." And if they haven't, they should have at least boarded the shuttle.
Problems in Emerging Adulthood
Problems in Emerging Adulthood
There is much to accomplish in young adulthood and a lot that can go wrong.
What makes someone an "adult?" According to research, young people say its taking responsibility for your actions, making your own decisions, having an equal, mutual relationship with your parents, and being financially independent.
Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch
Failure to launch describes a young person who has stalled. They are not moving forward. On the road to adulthood, the car has broken down. It's normal for young adults to have mixed feelings about separating from family and becoming independent. Self-doubt can lead them to avoid taking action, fearing the career and relationship decisions they make will be a mistake. They feel ill-equipped. They don't trust themself. Paradoxically, they depend on their parents and are angry about it. They express their anger inwardly in self-criticism, and sometimes outwardly towards their parents. This is a difficult situation for young people and their parents to navigate.
Depression & Anxiety
Depression & Anxiety
Young adults have high rates of depression and anxiety. In the past year, as many as 20 percent met diagnostic criteria for depression; 17 percent for generalized anxiety disorder.
Substance Use
Substance Use
Drug and alcohol use peaks in the first phase of emerging adulthood and declines thereafter. This is due to a combination of cultural factors, sensation-seeking, impulsivity, freedom from parental oversight. An estimated 15 percent of young adults meet criteria for a substance use disorder. For comparison, 6 percent of all US adults have a substance use disorder.
Eating Disorder
Eating Disorder
The onset of eating disorder is usually between 19 and 25 years old. Among college students, an estimated 10 to 20 percent of women have an eating disorder; 4 to 10 percent of men. Up to 90 percent of young adult women report worries about how their bodies look. LGBTQ adolescents are especially vulnerable to eating disorders. Trans youth are 4 times more likely to develop an eating disorder than their cisgender peers. Binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder, followed by bulimia and anorexia.
Personality Disorder
Personality Disorder
Personality disorder emerges in adolescence and peaks in young adulthood. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial. Unfortunately, young people with personality disorders often receive incorrect diagnoses, winding up in unsuitable and ineffective treatments. When their symptoms do not improve, its suggested they have a "treatment-resistant" condition. In reality, they have been misdiagnosed and have not received the treatment they need.
Treatment for Emerging Adults
Treatment for Emerging Adults
Emerging adults come to therapy for a variety of reasons. Young people away at college might wrestle with feeling homesick, isolating, skipping class, and avoiding homework. Those in the workforce might struggle with the logistics of independent living, like cooking, cleaning, or getting to work on time. Some young adults have a hard time tempering their risk-taking. They might use drugs and alcohol to manage the anxieties of growing up. This can leave them feeling in limbo. Other young adults obsess over romantic relationships. Everything else is neglected, including pursuing their own goals.
Psychodynamic therapy for young adults takes a nonjudgmental stance, exploring the hang ups that get in the way of moving forward. Helping young adults identify current life goals is an essential part of therapy. Early in treatment, therapists often request a family meeting. This is an opportunity for therapists to answer questions, discuss diagnoses and developmental dilemmas, and offer advice to parents on how best to support their young adult child develop into a full-time adult.
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