Teenage is a very challenging part of a child's and parent's life. While most teenagers would want to feel that they are independent and want to take all decisions on their own, they are also not confident about themselves. This causes a lot of confusion for them. To top it all, physical changes that they go through sometimes cause them a lot of stress and anxiety. Most teenager problems crop from this confusion and stress and parents need to be especially careful when dealing with them.
Let us look at the various physical changes that teenager's go through leading to the onset of many teenager problems.
For girls: Some of the common physical changes are the development of breasts, growth of pubic hair and hair growth in armpits, curvier bodies around the stomach and hips
For boys: Some of the common physical changes are growth of hair on the face, chest, legs and underarms for boys. Development of moustache, beard and also pubic hair are some other physical changes that teenage boys go through.
All these changes are known as puberty. Now let us look at what teenager problems can result from these physical and hormonal changes:
Sexuality: These changes are usually associated with a sense of sexuality, which could result in increased curiosity about sex life and increased attraction towards opposite sex. Teenager problems related to unsafe sex, adolescent pregnancy and sexual diseases are a result of this increased inquisitiveness on part of kids about sexual life.
Depression & Stress: Hormonal changes result in various teenager problems like mood swings which can ultimately lead to depression or higher stress levels. Most girls go through periods of feeling low when they approach their menstrual cycle. Boys start becoming rebellious and individualistic on approaching puberty. They manifest their stress or depression by either becoming very angry or withdrawing themselves.
Eating Disorders: Teenage is a time when kids become more conscious about their body. As a result of this their dress sense changes and they might give into excessive dieting or exercising leading to teenager problems related to eating disorders.
Behavioural Problems: Hormonal changes also lead to higher confusion and resultant teenage behavioural problems. Many teenagers end up becoming more rebellious, lose interest in studies, and stop abiding by the rules at home and school.
Substance Abuse: If parents fail to address the impact of physical and hormonal changes on their teenager and if they refuse to change the way they treat their teenager, some teenagers can get influenced by wrong elements and could start experimenting with drugs. This is one of the most serious teenager problems and can lead to significant stress for the family.
Hence it is very important for parents to take the physical and hormonal changes that their teenager goes through seriously and give them as much support as possible. The more you can support your teenager to navigate through the confusion they are going through, the stronger your relationship would get with them. In the book "Solving Teenage Problems" several tips are provided to deal with various teenage problems and to nip most of the problems in the bud.
