Teenage Moods!

Most parents find their child’s teenage years confusing and taxing. Handling their tantrums and mood swings with kid-gloves every now and then becomes draining and they begin punishing their children for the ‘bad mood’.

Such incidents, although common, can be avoided by a few simple measures. First and foremost, we need to understand that our teenage child as an adolescent and not a toddler anymore.

According to a new research, the brain reaches 90% of its full size by the age of 6 and continues to grow and develop through adolescence being at its peak at the age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys. During this period, the grey matter on the outer region of the brain thickens over time.

At a later stage, excess or unused grey matter tends to get trimmed away leaving only usable information which increases the brain’s efficiency. The pre-frontal cortex, which is responsible for self-control, planning and judgement, is one of the last areas of the brain that goes through the trimming process.

This is the reason behind teenagers exhibiting strong emotions and passions but lacking the mechanism to exercise control over them leading to mood swings and tantrums.

Another reason that majorly affects teenagers psychologically is the physical changes they go through as their body begins producing sex hormones. Owing to these physical changes, adolescents mostly feel uncomfortable and confused which augments their irritations and responses.

Practicing the following tips is a subtle yet precise approach to greatly reduce your stress levels and help you cope with your teenager’s mood swings:

1. Stay calm: Never let your child’s tantrum or mood swings make you get upset or angry. It will only make things worse. Forgive them as mature adults would and they will spring back to being their best.
2. Give them space: Your adolescents need their alone time to vent out, to retrospect, to have a good cry or to just be. Instead of being over-caring, let them know you are there if they wish to talk and move away.
3. Listen before you speak: Grasp little moments when they are willing to talk. Listen to them, understand their thoughts and relate them to your growing-up years. Before you know, you will have found a good friend in your teenaged child.
4. Rewards & Recognition: Just as you would want to know what’s happening with your child, encourage them to recognise the signs of their bad mood and identifying the problem as well. Be with them through it and reward yourselves with a trip to the ice-cream parlour for tackling the issue well.
5. Stay firm: Never let your child disrespect you or other elders however bad their mood is nor let them cross the set limits with siblings or friends. If ever they do, an apology is a must.
6. Take up a hobby: Together or otherwise, join a hobby class and encourage your youngster to do the same. It will keep you involved and your child’s mood balanced apart from learning a new skill.
7. Sport a healthy lifestyle: A healthy body leads to a healthy mind and vice versa. Joining a sport or fitness regime, a proper diet and enough sleep shall help bust any teenage stress related problems you have.