Eriksons Psychosocial Crisis Development Theory - Essay Example

The choice of words shows that Trust has a positive disposition while Mistrust has a negative disposition. For a person to make a transition from one stage to the other he has to balance the two opposing forces. For instance, in stage one (Trust v Mistrust), an individual has to balance between developing trust in people and his future and developing mistrust where appropriate to avoid being naïve and easily exploited. Love is paramount in any of these stages, to love and be loved makes one a sense of belonging, and therefore stage six, Intimacy v Isolation has affected my personality development (Roberta and Rubin, 98).

The stage of Intimacy v Isolation occurs between the age of 18 and 40 where every person strives to make committed and fruitful friendships. One either develops a strong personality based on the success of previous stages and hence has meaningful friendships or if he is not strong enough he adopts an isolated lifestyle. The stage calls for friendships that bring about mutual satisfaction and life fulfillment. On the contrary, an isolated life brought by feelings of inadequacy and loneliness leads to social withdrawal and the person may result to substance abuse or addictive behavior.

I have had experiences in my life that I can relate to the Intimacy v Isolation stage. Having grown up in a dysfunctional family where issues of mistrust are present and love is deficient I was unable to develop a strong personality and self-confidence. This has had a negative on my intimacy since relating with friends, especially of the opposite becomes problematic and as a result, feelings of rejection spring up, and social withdrawal follows. This withdrawal impacts negatively both academic and career development as an individual is unable to concentrate on academic projects or finish tasks assigned at the workplace. This failure to finish tasks puts you at loggerheads with your colleagues leading to further rejection. Low self-esteem sets in and at this point, one feels worthless and starts to take alcohol or drug abuse or addictive behavior like sex addiction or watching pornography to get instant satisfaction which unfortunately does not solve the problem and this becomes a cycle.

As one becomes addicted the energy level goes down and fatigue sets in making one unable to finish tasks on time leading to procrastination and postponement, laziness becomes a lifestyle. As a result of this loneliness and isolation other side effects like stress and depression emerge and if not checked may lead to suicidal thoughts. Personally, this stage has had a lot of impact on my development and understanding the societal problems, especially among the people in this stage. On a positive note, if one is well-received by family members, friends, and colleagues at work and in social circles, his self-worth is enhanced, and will eventually have fulfilling friendships. This explains why people with a loving family who get into the stage of Intimacy v Isolation without any weaknesses end up marrying the right person, getting a good career, and eventually having a good social life free from stress (Lerner, 424).

As for me, I was unable to resolve the crisis and this impacted negatively on my personality development. This is because I ignored the consequences of not having a fulfilling social relationship hence becoming isolated and with low self-esteem. The withdrawal resulted in alcoholism which ended up being an addiction lasting for a very long time. This meant that I could not engage meaningful career, as I always felt rejected and unloved. Absenteeism in my workplace was the norm and it became extremely difficult to get along with my workmates. Eventually, I had to quit and what followed was feelings of failure and underachievement. In conclusion, Erikson's theory proved valid as my failure to balance successfully the opposing emotional forces of intimacy and isolation made me not go through this stage with the necessary self-confidence that would have enabled me to face life with maturity. The stage of Intimacy and Isolation is indeed important in one’s personality development.