Page 15 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 2_2023

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Today's Child

Recent ground-breaking research shows how

brain changes that occur during adolescence can

be used to help teenagers achieve their potential.

or some adolescents, the incapable of considering the UNDERSTANDING THE CHAOS
teenage years are a breeze; consequences of their actions. And all During adolescence, teens start to
for others, this developmental this happens while having to cope with develop more sophisticated ways of
Fphase is a difficult journey; academic pressure. Given these factors, thinking. Abstract reasoning comes into
and for too many teens, it is a soul- coupled with the inner conflicts and play. However, it’s also a time when
destroying period dominated by feelings emotions that define adolescence, many teenagers are experimenting; they
of low self-worth, depression and teenagers may not realise their full are often judged for risky behaviour
anxiety. intellectual potential. and for being impulsive and irritable.
This behaviour is attributed to raging
These changes can be extremely In a bid to decode and understand the hormones, an increased sex drive and
challenging. Teenagers may suffer mood brain’s evolution, scientists have been immaturity.
swings which are often hard to control charting the neural changes that occur
or they may undergo an identity crisis. during adolescence. Insights from Teenagers feel misunderstood and
Some teens rebel or discover a taste this research are helping to explain isolated. Their turmoil is often
for adventure and risk-taking; this may why teens behave the way they do. ridiculed. As neuroscientist Sarah-
be spurred on by the need for peer Moreover, researchers suggest that Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing
approval, which becomes paramount at certain traits or skills learnt during the Ourselves: The Secret Life of the
this age. teen years – traits which even an adult Teenage Brain, says: “It is not socially
would find challenging – can be turned acceptable to mock and demonise other
By the same measure, they seem into strengths. sectors of society ... but it is strangely
acceptable to mock and demonise
teenagers.”
On the one hand, teens seem to
be doing all they can to separate
themselves from their families in an
effort to assert their independence.
They often challenge authority and
boundaries. Yet teens crave approval
from the adults in their lives as well as
their peers. This period of conflict is
normal and may be less evident in teens
with stronger self-esteem who come
from stable, supportive homes where
the communication channels are open.

How teens interpret their world is based
on their changing social environment,
the physical transformation their bodies
undergo and the shifting expectations
placed on them. These can contribute to
teenagers feeling alienated.

Mood swings can be explained by
the interplay of psychological and
physiological processes associated
with maturing. Teenagers experience
greater fluctuations in hormones and
neurotransmitters such as serotonin
(one of the feelgood hormones), GABA
and cortisol, which affect moods.

There is also the matter of sleep. It
Photo by Tyler Nix Photo by Antonika Chanel has been extensively researched and
reported that teens have a different
body clock to adults and require far
more sleep. This is because their
melatonin (a hormone made in the body
that regulates sleep cycles) rises and

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