Adolescence is the period of life from late childhood to adulthood. It begins around the onset of puberty and ends when a person is physically, psychologically, and socially mature.
What is adolescence?
Adolescence is the stage of life from late childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is often thought of as synonymous with the period of puberty, but it actually includes parts before and after. The childhood and juvenile stages lead directly into adolescence and end in the young adult stage. The WHO describes adolescence as a phase of life between the ages of 10 and 20; in the U.S., it encompasses the 13th to 19th years of life in the sense of puberty; and in German juvenile law, it encompasses the 13th to 21st years of life. All these periods can be coherent; ultimately, adolescence also depends on the individual development of the girl or boy into a woman or man. It has medical, biological, psychological and social relevance. Young people in adolescence develop physically to sexual maturity and then mature into adults with all the physical characteristics of their sex. During adolescence, the psychologist observes the first experiences of independence, responsibility, love, and detachment from parents. Friendships and one’s place in society play an increasing role. Adolescence in modern times ends when the young adult takes responsibility for his or her own life and is physically developed in a healthy manner appropriate to his or her age.
Function and task
The purpose of the childhood phases was to develop basic functions of the body and to set in motion important psychological processes. Many things are now behind the young person, such as learning basic attachment behavior or the eruption of the dentition. Adolescence begins along with puberty and all the major physical changes the body goes through during adolescence. The young person reaches sexual maturity, as a result of which the body is now continuously influenced by male or female hormones and forms or reinforces appropriate sexual characteristics. During adolescence, many teens find it difficult to accept these changes and their appearance as a whole, but by young adulthood, most reach some level of acceptance of their appearance. In most cases, unpleasant manifestations of adolescence such as skin blemishes or severe menstrual pain have also normalized by then. Adolescence is also marked by a fundamental reorganization and realignment of the brain. Emotional independence from parents is thus achieved over the years. The young person in adolescence also seeks his or her place in the social structure and finds ways to create it. Friendships take on a more significant role; they help shape the learned social behavior. The development of the intellect is clearly noticeable during this time, which is promoted in a developmentally appropriate way by attending school. The benefit of adolescence for a young person is to gradually become more self-reliant and lead an independent life in order to produce and raise offspring of their own. However, although independence is the goal, the adolescent person needs support from parents, family, and also from peers and society in general to develop into a healthy adult.
Diseases and disorders
Just like childhood, adolescence is a formative period of physical, mental, and social development. Abnormalities in development can therefore lead to permanent consequential damage. Particularly crucial is the physical development towards sexual maturity. If sexual maturity occurs too early, this can be just as normal as it could be a symptom of an underlying disease. As yet undetected tumors of the thyroid and pituitary glands, which may remain asymptomatic, would cause puberty to be delayed, slowed, or absent during adolescence. This eliminates male and female hormones that help the body mature into the adult image. Consequences can include reduced fertility, a micropenis, or undeveloped, androgynous breasts in women. More common than real diseases are complaints that, although basically harmless, can be very distressing. In boys, for example, this includes increased aggressiveness due to higher testosterone levels.Not every boy in adolescence has the same level, but if they do, they sometimes lead to more aggressive and combative behavior and like to get the adolescent into trouble. Girls, on the other hand, are more likely to suffer from their menstrual periods, which can still be painful, especially in adolescence. This remains the case for a few years and improves in early adulthood or already in late adolescence. Many young women also struggle with skin blemishes during adolescence and find it difficult to accept the changes in their figure. However, the physical developments of adolescence thereby also trigger a maturation process of the psyche, because the young adult must learn to accept himself. Nevertheless, psychological complaints during adolescence are perfectly normal, even if the teenager seems to suffer from them a lot at times. Regular offers of conversation from parents, exchange among peers, the availability of confidants such as teachers, school psychologists or even the pediatrician and adolescent doctor help to ensure that mental problems in adolescence can be recognized and eliminated in time.
