Since he's the one who discovered it, Erik Erikson probably
has some right to say what the proper use of the term
"identity crisis" ought to be. In his recent book, Identity
and the Life Cycle, ^† Erikson expresses surprise that the
phrase he almost took for granted had become a staple of
popular psychology. One has the impression that he is
generally pleased with the popularity of his brain child,
but that there are also some reservations:

I must register a certain impatience with the equation
never suggested by me of the term "identity" with the
question, "Who am I?" This question nobody would
ask himself, except in a more or less transient, morbid
state . . . wherefore, on occasion, I find myself asking a
student who claims that he is in an "identity crisis"
whether he's complaining or boasting. The pertinent
question, if it can be put in the first person at all, would
be, "What do I want to make of myself?" and "What
do I have to work with?"

-3-