Experiencing Turbulence During Adolescence

Adolescence is the bridge between childhood and adulthood. During this period, adolescent goes through a lot of hormonal changes which leads to emotional turbulence. The sudden changes in the body make the adolescent conscious about himself/ herself and this period also brings some responsibilities like stream selection, college selection pressure, etc. It is common for every adolescent to go through such difficulties and it is natural for them to act disturbed.

Difficulties like they are started being treated like adults in the society and house but sometimes parents treat them like children too which leads to ambiguous identity. Because of such fluctuation between being treat as adult and child, they feel anxious, stressed, and confused. 

During this period, for adolescents, their peer approval becomes the priority and also impressing the opposite gender. Because of this when they are not accepted in their peer group, they feel a lack of self-confidence, self-esteem, and experience loneliness.

So many changes during the adolescence phase make adolescents burdened and stressed which if not taken care of may also lead to disorders like depression, substance abuse disorder, food-related disorders like bulimia nervosa, etc. And during adolescence, their brains are like plastic means in whatever way you mold it, it will become like that. That's why it is important for parents to help their children feel secured, loved, and not alone. And also, acknowledge the fact that they are going through sudden changes that might make them irritable and aggressive, parents should calmly help them out rather than shouting back or controlling them.  

By: Prachi Sachdev

Birla Balika Vidyapeeth, Pilani