“Stages of The Life Cycle”

Adolescent

Adolescent is Bridging the gap between Childhood and Adult, during this period Child is growing to become an adult. Time period is full of fantasies and fun along with bit challenges and time sensitive tasks. E.g

Goals

Goals of Adolescent development Personality development, Physical and mental development.

Tasks (Identity / Role diffusion)

• Role models  (In search of someone who is worth following)
• Growth spurt
• Physical growth and mental development
• Socially acquiring skills to be successful
• Cognitive development to be an adult member of society
• Emotional regulation in times of stress

Challenges

• Peer pressure
• Expectation of the parents
• Expectation regarding school work
• Using spare time
• Ideals and realistic goals
• Dealing with difficult situations,and stressful life situations
• This is not end of the world
• Options of future
• Identity
• Who I am
• What I want to achieve and what I can
• Competition in the society
• Acceptation of self-limitation

Physical Domain

• Growing in body size, height, and weight
• Acquiring locomotive skills, i.e., crawling,
• walking, talking,playing, riding a bicycle, etc.

Psychological and Cognitive Development

• Acquiring skills to learn how to think, process or organizethe information
• Problem solving and memory functioning.

Social & Emotional Development

• How to interact with outside world
• Identify feeling & emotions of self and others
• Learning to deal with intense emotions
• Modulate feelings to function as independent individual.

Sexual Development and Gender Identity

• Developmental domains
• Children learn about their own body
• Learning about sexual feelings, and how to handlethose feelings, and what is permissible in society
•  

Communications

• By speaking / writing
• Gestures (Facial gestures, body gestures)
• Self injurious/suicide gestures(overt and covert threat, or actual doing to hurt self with intent)
• Substance abuse gestures
• Risky sexual behavior gesture
• Passive aggressive behavior
• Psychosomatic complaints(when not explained by a medical work up)

Warning Signs of impounding danger

• Withdrawal
• Decreased interest in school or social activities
• Decline in academic functioning
• Persistent worries, angry and aggressive out burst
• Changes in eating / sleeping patterns
• Avoiding conversation on particular subject
• Unusual activities
  • being away from home for long periods of time,or at odd hours
  • being on the phone or Internet for long periods of time
  • disappearing from school

Stages of human Life  (Erik Erikson’s)

Stage 1: Basic Trust versus Mistrust:    (Birth to about 1 year of age)

Task: Trust or not to trust

 Successful Achievement of Goals:

• Affection and loving care
• from caregiver (mother/father/caretaker)
• (e.g., child’s needs: bathing,
• basic daily care and hygiene)
• Child learns to trust the immediate world;
• begins to perceive an optimum view
• of family life; can handle being
• out of sight of caregiver

Unsuccessful Goal achievement due to:

• Inattentive, poorly responsive caregiver
• (illness, work, family crisis, etc.)
• Child learns the immediate world
• is not trustworthy; basic needs
• are not met, and results in
• mistrust and confusion
• in later life

Stage 2:  Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (About 1 to 3 years of age)

Successful Achievement of Goal:

• Parents permit autonomy;
• are supportive without being
• overly protective
• Child gains self-confidence;
• learning mastery of themselves
• Self-esteem is enhanced

Unsuccessful Goal:

• Parents are over-controlling,
• punishment for being autonomous
• Child feels angry and ashamed;
• pervading sense of doubt, loss of self-confidence; may develop loss of self-control and incompetence re: age-appropriate tasks, e.g., toilet training, muscular skills

Stage 3: Initiative versus Guilt (3 to 5 years of age)

• Successful Achievement of Goal:
• Children develop physically and intellectually; curiosity and freedom are encouraged
• Child is supported and engaged;
• encouraged to use their full potential and take initiatives
• ‘Aggressive’ fantasies are managed properly (neither punishedor encouraged)
• Child develops initiative and ambition
• Development of conscience (moral values: right from wrong)

Unsuccessful Goal:

• Parents are over-controlling,
• punishment for being autonomous
• Excessive punishment can restrict
• initiative and ambition
• can lead to rigid strong ego-centric
• persona; in adulthood can manifest
• itself in stubborn and a danger
• towards self and others

Stage 4 Industry versus Inferiority   (6 to 11 years of age)

Successful Achievement of Goal:

• Parents and teachers encourage creativity and curiosity.  Diligence, productivity and perseverance are demonstrated in difficult tasks, and helps protect against a sense of inferiority
• Productive children take pride in doing something, and completion of work or task is a pleasure.

Unsuccessful Goal:

• In excessive emphasis on rules and regulations / 'should’s and shouldnt's,' a child can develop a sense of duty, but at the expense of a natural desire to work
• Discrimination in school / non-supportive
• parents may lead to development of inferiority complex Over-protection at home, or excessive dependence on family for emotional support, can lead to emotional disregulation

Stage 5: Identity versus Role Diffusion (12 to 18 years of age)

Successful Achievement of Goal:

• Developing a healthy sense of identity, built on success in passing through earlier stages
• Success in attaining trust, autonomy, initiative and industry Sense of inner solidarity with ideals of a social group whose moral value may change, but eventually an ethical system is consolidated into a coherent organizational framework

Unsuccessful Goal:

• Identity crises can occur:
• identity diffusion or role confusion, characterized by not having a sense of self, and by confusion about the adolescent’s place in the world Can manifest in behavioral abnormalities (e.g., running away, criminality, overt psychosis problem in gender identity)
• Adolescents may defend themselves by joining cults, or identifying with folk heroes

Positive attributes

• Good Genes and Excellent environment
• Supportive family
• Supportive school environment
• Acknowledging (accepting) and empathic parent / teacher approach at time of crisis
• Good physical health
• Positive role model
• Athletic activities
• Supportive extended family andcircle of friends
• Positive spare time activities
• Early intervention if need arises;seek professional help

Negatives or stumbling blocks/ Pathological Issues

• Learning disability
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bipolar
  Disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Autistic Spectrum Disorder
• Substance abuse disorders
• Eating disorders
• Mental retardation

Stage 6: Intimacy

 versus Self Absorption Isolation (21 to 40 years of age)

Stage 7: Genrativity

versus Stagnation (40 to 65 years)

Stage 8: Integrity
versus Despair and Isolation (65 years of age, or older)