If you log onto Facebook, you will see reams of photos of your friends doing happy and fulfilling things, and seemingly cruising through life. Yet below this surface of carefully-staged online impression management, life is a far rougher ride for many adults that they would be likely to admit. Indeed, in a nationwide survey, participants were asked to evaluate whether their life was in a major crisis. 22% said yes, 33% said maybe, and 45% said no.

So why is crisis so prevalent in adult life? Does it have a function, or are humans just inherently fragile? In this talk, Dr Oliver Robinson explores how crises can help you unlock new potential that would otherwise remain dormant, that they have a clear function in acting as a stimulus for seeking new information, making positive changes, and making new (sometimes hard) discoveries about ourselves and the reality around us.

Dr Oliver Robinson is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Greenwich, and the course coordinator for Adult Development and Mental Health. His research focuses on how identity, wellbeing and mental health are affected by major life transitions, crises and ageing processes during adulthood. Dr Robinson’s work has gained attention from the New Scientist, The Guardian, BBC Radio 4, The Telegraph and The Times.

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