Have you ever experienced the feeling of being stuck in the middle of something? Being an adolescent can feel something like that. It is literally the time period of your life where you are stuck between being a kid and an adult. You are expected to behave more maturely but still follow certain restrictions like a kid. When a child enters the adolescence phase, they go through immense changes, both physical and mental, every single day. Imagine a child developing into an adult and the changes that come through it. Moreover, the changes that you go through take a toll on you, and you might be going through a lot of problems at this age. In this blog, we are going to look at the world through the eyes of an adolescent and look at their problems, which often get belittled by the elders. So without further ado, let us get into everything you need to know about adolescents problems.
Table of Contents
What are the main problems of adolescence?
So, when we talk about adolescent problems, what are the main problems that we talk about? The problems that you face in your adolescence phase can vary from person to person. It might be extremely serious, or not that much. So, let’s take a look at some of the problems that an adolescent might be going through;
1. Physical changes
So, what are the physical changes that an adolescent might be going through? When you transition from being a kid to an adult, you go through a stage called puberty. Puberty is basically a stage that adolescents go through, in which they get mature sexually and they become able to reproduce. As puberty hits, visible physical changes are visible in both girls and boys. The hormone levels start going haywire, and girls and boys start getting conscious about their bodies.
Girls might be insecure about their breasts which might have just started to be noticeable. And boys might start growing facial hair and feel some changes in their voice. Girls start menstruating, which can be painful, depending on their bodies. Periods can create some of the biggest insecurities that girls go through at this stage. Both girls and boys struggle with skin issues, like facial hair and acne. All of these changes take place rapidly and can be a hard time for the kid.
2. Emotional changes
We have talked above about only the physical changes that take place during the adolescence phase. However, the physical toll is accompanied by an emotional toll on the kid as well. As the child is in the middle stages of growing up, stuck between being an adult and a kid, they might feel a bit confused about what to feel about themselves. Moreover, their hormones are acting up during this time, so keeping track of emotions becomes a chore for them. They might be happy one minute, sad the next minute, and angry after a while. They go through a lot of mood changes during the day, which are generally called mood swings. All of these might lead to teenager feeling extremely insecure about themselves and one’s self-image. If issues like these are not solved at the early stage, it might lead to bigger problems in the future.
3. Social changes
Sometimes, the needs and problems of adolescence give rise to a culture in society that is rooted in indifference to adolescents’ problems. During this stage in one’s life, one is trying to actively come to terms with one’s own identity and place in society. However, society, basically the adults, might create a problem with that. Adults do not tend to take adolescents seriously and overlook their opinions, dismissing them as kids. However, they expect adolescents to behave like adults and be mature. This confuses the teenager and creates a sense of identity crisis in them.
Problems of adolescence in psychology
Problems during this growing phase of one’s life, if overlooked, can transform into serious psychological problems and develop into mental illnesses. Let us take a look at some of the psychological and mental health disorders that might surface during adolescence.
1. Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in adolescents. However, anxiety disorders are not one-dimensional. There are several types of anxiety disorders that one might suffer from. These include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Anxiety disorders are extremely serious, especially when they inhibit you from carrying out your day-to-day activities. Anxiety disorders can stem from past trauma, can be genetic, or might even stem from substance abuse, which we will get into later. In adolescents, social anxiety disorder is kind of common as teenagers generally find it difficult to engage in proper social interaction. If you know or see anyone struggling with anxiety disorders, remember to be kind to them and respect what they are going through.
2. Depression
Depression in adolescents can be really debilitating. Well, depression in itself takes away any interest from engaging in life, doing things that you like, and overall being in touch with one’s surroundings. Add those in a teenager, and it is an extremely sad situation, but a situation that occurs way too often to our liking. There might be many causes and triggers for a teenager to be depressed. A traumatic event or can be hereditary too. People with depression are at risk of harming themselves, so if you know someone who is not okay, please let some senior know or check-in yourself.
3. Substance abuse
Drug abuse or substance abuse is a rising problem in adolescents. Adolescents often think they’re misunderstood and sidelined by society. They think that no one understands them. Plus, there might be some personal traumas that the person might be going through. All of those issues accumulated lead to a person looking for ways to ease the burden. Hence, the person gets into drugs and alcohol. Getting addicted is the first step, and it just gets worse from there. Addiction at such a young age ruins a person’s life and destroys you physically and emotionally. So, if you see someone struggling with addiction, understand their pain and what they are going through.
The problems that we have talked about in detail are only some of the problems that adolescents go through. There are a lot of other mental illnesses, serious ones that affect a person.
How do solve adolescents problems?
Solving adolescent problems might not be as easy as it sounds. You might think adolescents only have problems regarding their school or their friends or something of that sort. While they might have problems relating to those things, they might be facing another way more serious problems too that might require you the help and supervision of an adult. So, as an adult, our job is not to misunderstand them but to look between their words and understand what they are going through.
One way you can try to solve their problems is just by listening. Listen to them, observe their behaviors, their patterns, and what they are trying to communicate to you. Once you listen to their problems, be empathetic. No one’s problems deserve to be belittled. If you think that their problems are beyond your understanding or too serious, tell them to seek therapy. Your only job is to lend an ear to their problems, as most teenagers feel alienated because they think people will not understand their problems. Make sure that is not the case.
How to ask for help?
As an adolescent, it must be hard admitting that you’re going through problems with other people. It is hard admitting it to yourself even. No one likes feeling that they are different from everyone else, that no one understands them, that they are weird. Moreover, no one likes being told that by other people, and as teenagers, we might have to encounter people who make us feel less about ourselves.
But we must always remember that asking for help does not make us a lesser person. You just need to accumulate a bit of courage to do the thing that will help you in the long run. So, if you need help, the world is still full of good people who keep their helping hands ready.
Final Thoughts
So, we have come to the end of our blog – Adolescents problems. I hope that the problems that adolescents go through relate to you and resonate with you. So, if you are an adult reading this, remember to be kind to kids who are growing up. Who knows, they might be going through problems of their own that you do not know about.