Why Teenagers Act Crazy
Why Teenagers Act Crazy
Adolescence is usually seen in our society as a period of emotional drama and troublemaking teenagers, there is a psychological explanation for this.
First of all, during adolescence teenagers go through life changing events like starting to separate from their parents, trying to fit into a social group and figuring out who they want to be and what they want to do in their lives. All of this causes a lot of anxiety, but there is a psychological reason for this: the development of the brain during this lifetime causes teenagers to experience more anxiety and fear and they have a harder time controlling this than children or adults.
During adolescence the amygdala (part of the brain that processes fear) develops before the prefrontal cortex (part of the brain that controls reasoning and executive control) this means that the brain at this stage has more capacity for fear and anxiety but is underdeveloped for calm, reasoning and moderating emotions.
The amygdala and de prefrontal cortex work together in certain events, the amygdala responds to fear by sending an alert to the prefrontal cortex which re-evaluates the situation and calms down the brain if there is no danger ahead.
Studies made in Weill Cornell Medical College and Stanford University show that when adolescents were shown fearful faces, they had exaggerated responses in comparison with children and adults.
Not only are teenagers more fearful than calm, but they are also risk takers. This happens because the brain’s reward center also develops before the prefrontal cortex, this makes teens have a riskier behavior.
It has been learned that this anxiety is not easily treated with psychotherapy and also, adolescents shouldn’t use stimulants because this worsen anxiety. These problems sometimes affect adolescents, even later on as adults, causing anxiety disorders. Even though this can happen, most adolescents learn to deal with anxiety and modulate fear as they grow older
Adolescence is usually seen in our society as a period of emotional drama and troublemaking teenagers, there is a psychological explanation for this.
First of all, during adolescence teenagers go through life changing events like starting to separate from their parents, trying to fit into a social group and figuring out who they want to be and what they want to do in their lives. All of this causes a lot of anxiety, but there is a psychological reason for this: the development of the brain during this lifetime causes teenagers to experience more anxiety and fear and they have a harder time controlling this than children or adults.
During adolescence the amygdala (part of the brain that processes fear) develops before the prefrontal cortex (part of the brain that controls reasoning and executive control) this means that the brain at this stage has more capacity for fear and anxiety but is underdeveloped for calm, reasoning and moderating emotions.
The amygdala and de prefrontal cortex work together in certain events, the amygdala responds to fear by sending an alert to the prefrontal cortex which re-evaluates the situation and calms down the brain if there is no danger ahead.
Studies made in Weill Cornell Medical College and Stanford University show that when adolescents were shown fearful faces, they had exaggerated responses in comparison with children and adults.
Not only are teenagers more fearful than calm, but they are also risk takers. This happens because the brain’s reward center also develops before the prefrontal cortex, this makes teens have a riskier behavior.
It has been learned that this anxiety is not easily treated with psychotherapy and also, adolescents shouldn’t use stimulants because this worsen anxiety. These problems sometimes affect adolescents, even later on as adults, causing anxiety disorders. Even though this can happen, most adolescents learn to deal with anxiety and modulate fear as they grow older