To a lot of these troubled young adults, it starts as a general feeling of having no sense of direction regarding where they want their lives to go. Most adults go through this after graduating college. This is the stage where they have to prove true every theory taught to them during their academic years. Many young men and women who are fresh graduates are idealistic in picking work at this stage of their lives. They feel a need to prove to others, most especially to themselves, that they are going to be able to apply everything they've learned from school on the job they've chosen.

Disappointments start setting in once they're rejected from their chosen jobs. Young people have a tendency to start sour-graping about jobs that are rejected them. This is a typical defense mechanism by young people to protect their broken ego. They either give excuses that the job that rejected them wasn't intellectually-stimulating enough, or that the compensation was not enough for their talents.

Emotional insecurities also come into play during quarter life crisis. Young adults start questioning themselves whether they're good enough to be with somebody. Some would start questioning their own identity and sexual preference. Some would start seeing every little thing as their fault and start blaming themselves for everything that goes wrong. Young adults who are unable to cope start getting into bouts of depression and eventually end up as recluses from society, afraid and always on guard.

Most people who experience quarter life crisis are often achievers as children. They tend to obsess at what they've achieved in the past, what they're doing in the present, and what they will be doing in the future. These people usually dwell on what they have been able to establish in the past, and wallow at the thought of how they can't seem to make the same accomplishments in the present. They start worrying if they'll ever be able to come back to the achiever they were before. They start doubting their ability to make their goals materialize.

Usually, young adults are able to pick up the pieces and start moving forward. They recover from whatever insecurities they may be feeling and start taking charge of their lives. Unfortunately, not everybody is strong enough to go back to riding the same horse that they fell from. Some people are simply unable to cope and just decide to stay on the ground and mourn over what's already lost. Some decide to stay in a state of denial and justify everything that's happened. Some will resort to taking medications to calm down or even forget.

A lot of mental health professionals suggest taking anti-depressants to help people who have been suffering from quarter life crisis for a long time already. Anti-depressants are medications commonly used as prescription for people suffering from depression. It is used to treat certain psychological conditions such as anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders and chronic pain. It is also commonly misused to generate a false sense of calm for people who think they're lives are worst that everybody else's. Of course, anti-depressants should only be used when it is prescribed by a trusted doctor as it may have side effects to your body in the long run.