As humans we are constantly searching for a greater definition, or even a legacy we can leave behind. We are constantly breaking new records in the industrial world but only to see our environment on route to its greatest downfall in return. Who are we? And how is it that we define ourselves?

If we evaluate Erikson’s outlook on identity, specifically identity vs. role confusion, he states that “one must learn to be himself where he means the most to others, who have come to mean the most to him.” If you take a moment to re-read this, it applies to all of us. We need to express who we are as human beings, if we don’t there will always be a certain level of dissatisfaction or discomfort. The people we choose to surround ourselves with help us recognize and accept who we are. Humans will always flourish through their relationships, no sane man ever triumphed in permanently isolated conditions.

Commodities humans should consciously be thinking about are things like our interests or our ethnic identity, and even our spiritual or political ideology, rather than our body image. Yes it is important to stay aware of the fact whether our bodies are in healthy condition or not, but awareness has become obsession. Social media has put a strong social pressure on many young males and females who believe they have to reach these expectations. Technology has made it extremely easy and accessible for us to visually compare ourselves, and has inclined a strong and growing source for encountering identity issues.

James Marcia, one of the more pivotal psychologists in history, is given great amounts of credit for spending almost his whole life researching adolescents and coming up with the four topics we fall under. The first group, which we all aim to be apart of, is “Identity Achievement.” This group defines an individual who is able to make commitment to particular goals, beliefs, and values, and even though crisis is encountered, it is able to be resolved. Although for some of us it would seem more preferable to live a life with no crises or pain, these situations are ironically the ones that allow us to become the most aware of ourselves. The fourth group on the opposite end of the spectrum is better known as “Identity Diffusion.” This certain group of people never make any type of commitment and experience no crises at all, in return not having to even think about or resolve any type of  identity issues. What happens in situations like this is that the feeling of being lost becomes inevitable, and once we are lost it feels impossible to be found. The even harder part about Identity Diffusion is that when he/she comes to realize the fact that they are this lost, they already convince themselves it’s too late to experience any change.

I wanted to focus on the high correlation between identity diffusion and suicide, I know it is a harsh topic, but one that needs much more attention than it currently receives. Yes, it is nice to live in oblivion because sometimes this world is unfathomably cruel to completely take in,  but avoidance of reality is really avoidance of oneself. We need to come alive through our relationships, we need to rise, we need to fall, we need to feel!! Don’t be afraid of crises, we need to feel loss in order to ever be able to indulge in the emotion of love. Don’t hide the light from yourself. I’m not saying there won’t be days that the darkness doesn’t feel completely consuming, but with strong-will and consistency those days soon become nothing but a memory we grow from.