Teenage Brain Development

Neuroscientists consider 25 to be the age at which the human brain becomes fully developed. Until then, they should be considered a work in progress. Which is particularly the case for the teenage brain.

For generations, parents have wrestled with the conundrum that is the adolescent mind: at times growing in maturity before rapidly shifting to volcano-like, emotional outbursts. The first step toward understanding the teenage brain, and how best to support it, is knowing that the adult brain and teenage brain work differently.

Tips for nurturing the adolescent brain

Brain development is a marathon, not a sprint. Accept that emotional responses are healthy and normal, even if you might feel like your daughter/son should act 'more like an adult'. This is a process that takes time. Frustrated and, dare I say it, emotional responses from parents about a need to mature quicker will not speed things up.
Being completely rational is boring. Without emotion, we would be robots, working on logic and reasoning all the time. Where would the fun in life come from? Emotional responses are often very positive like passion, love and kindness.
Understand what is going on in that teenage brain. Accept that this is a necessary process and know that it will not last forever. Though it might not seem like it at times, this is normal. SCCR have some excellent and easy-to-understand information about the emotional part of the and how it impacts our responses.
Be kind to them. The stress hormone cortisol is more easily produced during this stage of brain development. Try to keep this in mind when your son/daughter is stressing out about issues your adult brain would be able to deal with calmly and rationally.
Lead by example. Brain development comes through experiences and effort. The more an adolescent is encouraged and supported in the positive use of the pre-frontal cortex, the more it will happen. It is a tough ask but try to deal with their emotional outbursts using the logical part of your brain.