Analyzing Erikson's Stages Of Adolescence

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Erik Erikson studied psychological growth from infancy through old age. With that, we are able to instruct and teach each level of education from preschool. It portrays how people develop psychologically through understanding and handling everyday experiences. One of Erik Erikson’s stages is identity versus role confusion stage, which begins in adolescence. Adolescence is marked as a period of change, as the individual transitions from childhood to adulthood. In this stage, adolescents try on different principles and identities. It can be confusing, which often leads to, what Erikson termed, an “identity crisis”. Individuals who have resolved their own personal crises have achieved a sense of identity. Those who remain locked in doubt and insecurity, and have yet to resolve their crises, experience identity confusion. I have chosen the stage Identity vs. Role confusion because I believe this stage best fits where I am at in my life right now. An article I read states that “In adolescence, many people find that the tension between the internal forces of the self and the external forces of society is particularly high (Study.com).” I believe pressure from society and …show more content…

But when I was 15, I developed an eating disorder. My insecurities with my physical appearance became my obsession. Whoever I was, was masked by this eating disorder and I was living life centering everything on all the things I feared most. Loneliness, my body, and food. In a stage where I was striving to find an identity, I clung to it; I felt lost and hopeless and was existing as something, not someone. Because of this, I could never feel secure and confident in myself. This stage, identity versus role confusion, is all about exploring who you are as in individual. My search for identity caused increase in my self-awareness, self-consciousness, obsession with image, and a huge concern for social