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Zishuo Zhang

Instructor Andreea Corona

LING 3C F22 Mon 11: 00 am

10/20/2022

Why are Teenagers more Mentally Sensitive than Adults

Fear is an emotion that is essential to human evolution. It helps people avoid risks or stay

away from things that are bad for them. According to Richard A. Friedman's "Why Teenagers

Act Crazy," people develop the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions and fear, at

an accelerated rate during adolescence. So, during adolescence, people are more likely to be

afraid and sensitive. In the modern era of high information technology, this characteristic is more

reflected in the sensitivity to social life and fear of the negative impact of the collapse of

relationships. People can't help feeling nervous and alert in the face of unfamiliar things. Adults

are less likely to feel anxious because they have enough insight. However, adolescents may feel

overly nervous or even afraid when facing unfamiliar social situations because of the brain's

sensitivity to emotions. Knowing how adolescents think and understanding them is becoming

more and more critical if we want to take a genuine interest in minors' psychological and

physical development.

Teenagers are more likely to feel fearful or nervous about their social lives, both

internally and externally. Human genes have evolved to make teenagers more sensitive. At the

same time, adolescents' anxiety about social activities and unfamiliar environments is magnified
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in the modern era of technological advances. Understanding the causes of these fears can help

people build a social environment suitable for young people's biological and mental growth.

There are many reasons why teenagers are emotionally sensitive, and physical reasons

are the most essential one. Adolescents are usually described by adults as innocent and reckless.

It is common to attribute this high level of emotionality to adolescents not having enough insight

and the ability to cope with stress. Such adolescent traits usually fade away when they reach

adulthood. However, this moodiness in adolescence can also bring specific threats to

adolescents. Research shows that adolescents are more likely to die from accidents and commit

suicide than people of other ages.

A scientific understanding of the highly emotional nature of adolescence, rather than an

empirical explanation of youth, may significantly impact solving adolescent problems.

According to Richard A. Friedman's "Why Teenagers Act Crazy,” the teenage brain is still

developing. In particular, the amygdala, the part that controls emotions and fears, develops more

rapidly than the prefrontal cortex, “the seat of reasoning and executive control.” As a result, they

tend to perceive everything around them in a relatively sensational way. Adolescents may feel

frightened when confronted with unknown situations, overly anxious when faced with unfamiliar

people, and more sensitive to details and vulnerable when interacting with friends.

The difference in the rate of development of the emotional control centers of the brain

causes adolescents to be more dynamic, which makes them very sensitive to external stimuli.

Adolescents' lack of rational control and general lack of insight makes them feel anxious and

fearful when confronted with many situations. The amygdala of adolescents is hyper-reactive,

leading them to interpret neutral stimuli as threatening. Marwa Azab claimed in "Why Are Teens

So Emotional?" that when teenagers are exposed to a neutral facial expression, the MRI scan of
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their brain shows that amygdala activation is higher in adolescents than in adults and children.

Teenagers sometimes interpret neutral expressions as unfavorable. For example, suppose a

college varsity coach does not smile at a player with embolden words at the end of a day of

practice. In this case, the teenager may assume that the coach has a negative opinion about his or

her ability. However, the coach may think of something else when doing so.

Anxiety and panic in adolescents can be summarized as side effects caused by incomplete

brain development. Emotional influences give adolescents more active brain activity and the

ability to learn, but they also make them more vulnerable to psychological harm or bad

judgments. Teenagers have better plasticity of consciousness and values, as they are using their

eyes and minds to perceive the world and build social awareness. They are more frequently

subjected to mental shocks as their learning ability increases. Two types of consequences can

occur after a mental shock: those that strengthen the mind and build more robust internal

defenses, and those that are so severe that they can be overwhelmed by the impact and develop

PTSD or, more seriously, a mental illness like depression. The former result is more common

because the probability of a severe shock is small. But if no attention is paid to this potential

threat, instead, leaving the child to face it directly may cause some irreversible effects. Many

adult parents do not care about the inner spirit world of their growing children or worry about

severe issues such as depression and anxiety because they ignore the pressure and potential

threats in their children’s world. When severe psychological problems occur, adolescents may

take a more antagonistic approach to resolve them and, in extreme cases, may commit suicide or

have a lifelong impact on their development. A more scientific approach is to properly guide

children to make choices and allow them to deal with stress from all sides properly. This helps
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people to acquire exquisite qualities such as resilience and improvisation during their teenage

years.

Another aspect that affects the survival rate of adolescents is accidental mortality.

Although teenagers are more likely to feel scared and nervous, they still choose more extreme

sports and some risky behaviors. According to Richard A. Friedman's "Why Teenagers Act

Crazy", “the answer, in part, is that the brain’s reward center, just like its fear circuit, matures

earlier than the prefrontal cortex.” Despite their fear and nervousness, adolescents still feel that

challenging sports can give them a higher level of mental satisfaction. The adolescent brain's

well-developed reward system allows them to become more creative and challenging.

In addition to the internal factors of adolescents that cause them to be more sensitive and

anxious, other external factors exacerbate the adolescents' emotional instability. The use of

Social Interaction Technology (SIT) is on the rise among young people, who increasingly prefer

this new form of social interaction. Although technological advances have provided many

conveniences, SIT has also created new psychosocial issues.

According to Lenhart, Madden, and Hitlin (2005), approximately 75% of teens use

instant messaging on a regular basis. Teens' use of online social networking platforms has

increased exponentially in the 21st century. Between 2002 and 2005, cell phone ownership

among teens rose from 10% to almost half. (Lenhart et al., 2005, Petrecca, 2005) Social anxiety

has also been amplified by the highly developed social software. Since young people usually

have a wider social circle, which can be within a school or class. Because of the exclusivity and

trendiness of young people's social life, many cases of adolescents suffer from FoMO and

anxiety disorders. Classes and student circles often have a variety of small groups. For fear of

being labeled as misfits, students try to act as if they are like most of their classmates: participate
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in a variety of activities, have an enriched life, and have a sport or specialty they are good at. The

irrational comparison may cause teens to feel inferior or become socially awkward.

The way to eliminate this anxiety is also a major direction for the future development of

social media. Setting personalized social media alerts, for example, can make people aware that

everyone has their reality, that they are sporadically using the social media. Over-commitment

to social media may lead teens to become desensitized to the real world and instead exacerbate

the level of social impairment. Getting teens more involved in real life will allow them to enrich

their lives and alleviate social anxiety. For example, attending offline gatherings, reading more

books, finding a sport they enjoy, or spending time with family and friends can all lead to a more

fulfilling life. Then they won't feel empty or FoMO on online socializing.

A combination of biological causes and technological advances amplifies anxiety and

panic in teens. The brain's evolutionary traits are somehow in conflict with the advancement of

social media, so this may be one of the research topics for future technological advancement.

And there is a lot we can do about it now, for example, attend regular parties, find a sport they

enjoy, or spend time with family. Understanding the nature of adolescent fear and anxiety is

significant in eliminating the effects it brings to teenagers and their mental establishment.

(Word Count: 1398)

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Works Cited

Azab, Marwa. “Why Are Teens so Emotional?”, Psychology Today © 2022 Sussex Publishers,

LLC, 1 Oct. 2018, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuroscience-in-everyday-life/

201810/why-are-teens-so-emotional.

Friedman, Richard A. “Why Teenagers Act Crazy”, Dialectical Journal Unit 1 Fall 2022 LING

W 3C, UCSB.