What Is Happening Inside Our Heads?
Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone, let’s face it. Parents don’t seem to understand us, and we don’t seem to understand them. There comes a time when, "People who do not understand themselves have a craving for understanding” (Wilhelm Stekel). Well, that is starting to happen to me.
This week in Psychology class, we watched a video about the teenage brain. For the first time in my life, I understood that we, the teenagers, are not completely nuts. There is actually a reason behind our revolting mood change, unbearable attitude, and thoughtless decisions.
In fact, according to the video, the frontal lobe of the teenage brain is not entirely developed, so that explains why we can’t make rational decisions. At the early twenties, the brain is still not fully developed. Besides, we constantly fail to correctly identify the emotions behind an adult’s face.
What I found most interesting is that REM sleep, a time of dreaming in which the eyes move fast, helps you to remember things better. However, most teens only get 7 ½ hours of sleep, when in reality, we need at least 9 hours of sleep.
I believe that although the teenage brain is not completely developed, some of us could make rational decisions if we set our mind to. We, as teens, should not find excuses to explain our dumb decisions, but rather to avoid them.
