Young Adults
16 - 25 year olds

Young adulthood is a significant time of change both physically and mentally. Current research suggests that this change is not completed in the brain structure until around 25 years of age. During this phase, the accomplishments of puberty and pressures to discover relationships outside of the home influence and unsettle many families. Young adults reach a stage in which their brain has developed sufficiently to see alternatives to the values and beliefs expressed in their childhood. The common mantra of young adults is an optimism of utopian thinking along with a denigration of the mess their parents’ generation has made of world order. While the young adult has gained much life experience since early adolescence, it may still unfortunately fall short of assisting them to effectively manage the chasm between ideal and real. Add to this the task of establishing sexual identity in a dramatically intense "market", and young adulthood becomes a challenging period for many.

The young adult today has far more restrictions and yet have exposure to much more of the adult world than ever before. The rapid pace of social change, high rates of youth unemployment, higher expectations for education and learning, increased globalisation, increased family breakdown, changing values and increased media influences all add to the experience of an uncertain world. While the media presents increasingly younger individuals as adult-like in their behaviour (particularly in the marketing of sex), today’s reality is that the level of independence once associated with late adolescence is typically seen now in 20-somethings, with young adults reliant on their parents for comparatively longer .

Youth unemployment and increased demands for education and training are marked changes in a persons ability to be independent, autonomous, and self-directed (in 1900 3% of the population went on to higher education, in 2005 over 40% did). Technology has changed forever the way in which young adults interact, yet the tasks of young adulthood remain the same: establish who you are; your social identity in work, play and finances; and your relationship identity with lovers, friends and relatives.

Ancient Roman Pueblos Syris wrote “there is no fruit that is not bitter before it is ripe”.

The physical and social changes associated with young adulthood may trigger mental health issues, which explains the high rates of diagnosed mental illness among this age group. The complicated factors in distinguishing mental illness from the expected struggles of growing up often mean that a young person’s difficulties are left undiagnosed and untreated until a crisis occurs. For these reasons, early intervention with specialist support is often key player in the improvement of young adults’ quality of life .

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One person's experience

Melissa came to therapy shortly after her 24th birthday, saying that she felt “lost” and “trapped”. She talked to her psychologist about how she often felt as though she was adrift, and her greatest fear was waking up one day at 30 or 40 years old and still feeling her current sense of aimlessness and unhappiness with her life circumstances. Melissa explained: “I wasn’t one of those students that left high school knowing what they wanted to do for the rest of their life – but I figured hardly anyone has that stuff figured out at 17. I remember, at my 21st birthday, my friends were excited about how the world was our oyster, and my aunty joked about how she’d do anything to be that age again. But all I felt was this urgency to at least be in a job that I liked, if not have enrolled at Uni or moved out like some of my girlfriends. Now I’m 24, I’m still living at home, lots of my friends have been overseas and I’ve barely crossed the state border. My most serious relationship ended after 8 months, and that was ages ago. I don’t mind my job, but it’s just not ‘me’, and I don’t make enough to have saved very much at all. I’d go to Uni or TAFE, but what would I study? I’m starting to cringe when people at parties ask me where I work or what I do or where I live. If I don’t get this sorted soon, I can just see myself still like this in 10 years’ time.”

Although the psychologist couldn’t really tell Melissa what her vocation was or whether she should move in with friends, Melissa still found therapy very useful. The process of exploring her options helped Melissa gain clarity about what had prevented her from pursuing viable options further. As she grappled to describe her story to a psychologist, Melissa also found that she had a better-defined identity than she had given herself credit for, which further instilled in her a new confidence to make life decisions. While she still didn’t yet have it all figured out, through therapy Melissa had re-evaluated her urgent need for answers, come to understand herself better, and had some promising ideas about personally meaningful directions to consider from here.

Other Mood disorders:
Depressive & Bipolar Disorders
Eating disorders - anorexia and bulimea
Disruptive behaviour disorders
Licit and Illicit Drug abuse and
Substance related disorders
Attention Deficit Disorders
Phobias

Psychological conditions reflected through physical symptoms -
Somatoform Disorders
Personality Disorders