Hopelesness, confusion, languishing: How the pandemic intensified quarter-life crisis

Soon after completing his graduation in the second half of 2019, Mumbai’s 22-year-old Daniel Carvalho was planning to take a gap year, intending to kickstart his startup by mid 2020. Little did he know that the pandemic would put a break on his plans. “It’s been more than a year now that the idea of startup is on hold. It’s too risky to take the plunge as the market situation seems quite uncertain, so does my future,” laments Daniel, adding, “Should I stick to my plans of doing the startup and wait for things to get better, or listen to my parents and take up a long-distance Master's degree course? I really don't know and this gives me so much anxiety!”
With 2020 literally cancelling everything for Gen Zs and millennials and 2021 playing a spoilsport, millennials and Gen Zs are battling hopelessness and living in dilemma and the fear of not ‘heading’ anywhere in their lives and career.Experts are defining it as a ‘quarter-life crisis’ that has come to the fore in the pandemic. With the pandemic disrupting their lifestyle, social interactions and uncertainty looming over them, quarter-life crisis is seeing a huge spike in the pandemic, impacting those in their 20s and early 30s.





Dr Rahul Ratan Bagale, consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Clinic, Pune, points out, “Millennials and Generation Zs were travelling world, going to malls, enjoying nightlife, posting their daily life events on social media, before the pandemic. They were geared up to embark on new journeys — new job, new city/country, starting college, marriage etc. For them, all this has been on hold. Just sitting idle at home with lack of adequate socialisation, rising numbers of unemployment, experiencing the fragile uncertainty due to pandemic, is causing them to experience unbearable void, stagnation and monotony.” Experts are also calling it an identity crisis and low self-confidence.

While quarter-life crisis is not a new phenomenon troubling the young demography, the current times have made it worse. “A very popular psychologist Dr Alex Fowke has described quarter-life crisis as ‘a period of insecurity, doubt and disappointment surrounding your career, relationships and financial situation,’ and the pandemic is an example of a period defined by chaos and uncertainty,” says Dr Latha Rao, an independent researcher of Psychology from Chennai, adding, “The quarter-life crisis has only been getting real attention after COVID-19 outbreak. The stalled progress coupled with unpredictability has been pushing them off the edge. They don’t know when the crisis will end. Should they or shouldn’t they — marry, move to a foreign country, resign from their overbearing job, accept a job offer that weighs them less etc. — are some of the pertinent questions they are anxiously and desperately looking answers for.”
Looking for the silver lining
It is easy to slip into a phase of sulking and procrastination, when one is going through the crisis. “The quarter life -crisis coincides with a phase in people’s life when it’s time for them to grab opportunities and take big decisions. Therefore, it’s imperative to overcome the fear. It is natural to doubt oneself in a situation like this pandemic, but is also crucial to realise that procrastination or simply delaying because the more you do, the more time and opportunities you miss,” suggests counsellor Gitanjali Shah.
While some are resorting to forming support groups and taking up new hobbies to deal with it, others are also seeking therapy to tackle it. Saksham Sharma, 25, who wanted to get married “early,” to his girlfriend, is now questioning his decision of proposing marriage. “I had been juggling with so many emotions at once, but eventually found relief in therapy. Many would say it’s too early to be doing that, but it has helped me get some clarity about the situation. It’s essential to talk to someone who can objectively look at your crisis and offer advice,” says Saksham from Delhi.
“More often than not, when you’re connected with people who are probably facing what you are facing, even if virtually, it gives you a sense of “not being alone”. Discussions, communications and sharing that’s going on helps find solutions and answers and some sense of direction because you know you're not lonely.”
— Dr Shyam Sundar Paliwal, senior therapist, Mindful Clinic, Kolkata
Tackle quarter-life crisis

— Aditya Shekar Agarwal, psychiatrist and career counsellor, Mumbai