A.W.O.L.: the missing teenage brain and the impact on mental health

By Richard Daniel Curtis

A book for parents of teens or preteens, teachers and professionals.

 

Adolescence is a turbulent time for young people.  Not only do they have to cope with the external pressures surrounding them, such as relationships, academic and peers, they also form their adult personalities.

In addition, there

• Language: English
• Publisher: TKC Ltd
• Release date: Jul 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781912010172

Richard Daniel Curtis

Richard Daniel Curtis is respected internationally for his understanding of psychology, behaviour and mental health. He is known as The Kid Calmer and his work is said to have influenced over half a million children's lives. He has written several books, including The Parent's Guide to the Modern World and the companion book The Young Person's Guide to the Modern World.

Book preview

Introduction

Welcome to this book about the changes in the brain of teens and preteens. There are huge changes that happen during these vital years. They have a massive impact on the functioning of the brain and in turn the mental health of our young people. Various studies have shown that during adolescence, as many as 20% of young people experience mental health problems. This book was written out of concern about the impact this has on our children.

The reality is that we all experience poor mental health at some point in our lives – it may be due to a relationship break down, stress, post-natal depression or another condition. However, as we will discuss in this book, the important thing is at these times we have the ability to communicate the emotional experience we are going through to our support network.

As both a parent and a teacher, I understand how worrying the statistics about our teenagers can be. A figure that high implies that even given our best efforts, we may not be able to avoid that happening to our children. As a result it becomes more important to understand what we can do if we do have concerns about their mental wellbeing.

The purpose of this book is to help you navigate the changes happening in their brain, the difficulties that puberty brings and to give you an understanding of what common teenage mental health conditions look like.

The book is split into four parts. The first focuses on adolescence. Our understanding of puberty has developed enormously over last 20 years. Technology in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI – the use of magnetic fields and radio waves to produce an image of the inside of the body), Functional MRIs (the measurement of brain activity) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI – a measurement of flow throughout the brain) has improved tremendously over the last 20 years. This has revolutionised our understanding of the changes that happen before, during and after puberty. In this part of the book we’ll discuss our understanding of the significant changes happening in this vital period of life.

Beginning with the physical changes during puberty, we will continue onto discussing the changes in the brain. We will then explore the impact of these changes on our children, what happens during this period with our sleep cycles and the impact on their attitude. Finally, we will discuss the impact of alcohol, drugs and sex on their development.

In Part Two, I will share information on some of the most commonly diagnosed mental health conditions that adolescents experience. I will mention common treatments and what to watch out for.

We will cover:

Anxiety;

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder;

Eating Disorders;

Depression;

Psychosis;

Self-harm;

Suicide;

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome;

Loss and Grief.

Finally, we will discuss what to do if you are concerned about your child and common sources of support when you are concerned the difficulties are no longer low-level difficulties.

Part Three focuses on other factors that would affect a young person’s ability to cope with low-level mental health problems. We will begin with a discussion on self-security and trust, two vital concepts for maintaining positive mental wellbeing.

Continuing with an exploration of recognising and coping with emotions, we will explore these vital aspects of mental wellbeing. We will also talk about ways that our young people can cope with the increased stress they are under.

This is then followed by chapters on external factors that affect the wellbeing of our children. First, their social relationships – a huge influence on young people’s mental health. Secondly, we will discuss the impact of romantic relationships and finally the impact of technology on the emerging brain.

Part Four focuses on practical tips that you can use in everyday life to help ensure that the support networks and outlets that help to avoid the negative impact of mental health difficulties do not become overwhelming for your child.

We will cover healthy sleep, eating and exercise habits. It is important that adolescents are able to set their own goals and work towards them; we’ll discuss some strategies for supporting them. A chapter of self-motivation, an important consideration in the teenage years, will follow this.

We will discuss how to help young people to switch off and relax, to enjoy down time – a vital technique in avoiding the overwhelm of emotions. This will then be followed by ways that our children can access their vital support networks, be they parents, teachers, mentors, professionals or other friends and family.

Finally, a note on wording, throughout this book I regularly refer both to puberty and to adolescence. I aim to use these phrases interchangeably; however, there will be occasions where I inform the reader of slight differences between the two (for example during my discussion on the physical changes that are happening throughout this period).

I have written this book for you, the adults. The more that I can help you to understand what is happening in their world, the more I can empower you to support your child and alleviate the pressure they are under.

Happy reading!

Part One

Adolescence

Adolescent Changes

There are many changes, both physical and cognitive, that occur during the transition from childhood to adult. Academics have come up with a number of different theories over the years have come up with different views. Each of these holds their own place in understanding the complex nature of a child’s development in adolescence and whether they are developing at the right rate.

Broadly speaking these are physical, cognitive, psychosexual, psychosocial, attachment and spiritual.

Physical

Physical development is the recognition that, within acceptable variance, children develop at their own rate. Some will mature earlier than others will for example. The developmental theorist Arnold Gesell (the first school psychologist in the United States) developed a range of measures to be able to assess the ‘maturity’ of a child according to what they could and could not do. There is a version of his scale in use today that gives a child’s physical development an age bracket. Children go through adolescence at different rates and so it can be hard to compare children (even siblings) as like for like.

Early adolescence and puberty is linked to three separate changes in the body. The first is a growth spurt, the second is activation of the sexual organs and the third the development of secondary sexual factors.

Growth spurt

The growth spurt will often happen at around the age of 12 for girls and 14 for boys. Average annual growth goes from about 5cm a year, to 8.3cm a year for females and 9.5cm a year for males whilst they go through puberty.

For girls the stage begins with the enlargement of the breasts. It takes about two years to reach the highest rate of growth; it is generally only after this that they start menstruating. Following this they normally only grow another 5-10cm.

Boys begin with the enlargement of the testicles, the penis does not grow for another one-two years.  They do not generally finish their growth spurt until they are 20.

Because of this growth spurt, it is not uncommon for young people to become clumsy. This is because the brain can struggle to keep up with the accelerated physical growth, causing them to be unbalanced.

Sexual organ activation

The activation of sexual organs is known as gonadarche and marks the ‘formal’ start of puberty if such a thing exists. This second stage of puberty begins between the ages of 8 and 14 in females and