For many teenagers \u201chaving fun\u201d at a party is synonymous with binge drinking and smoking weed.\u00a0 Parents are often reluctant to interfere with this so called \u201cadolescent\u201d behaviour without realising how damaging and life altering this can be. They often don\u2019t realise that the adolescent brain is much more vulnerable than the adult one.<\/p>\n
Yes there is! The teenage brain is still a work in progress, and it continues to develop until early adulthood (when you are somewhere around 25 years old). The part of the brain that takes longest to develop is the part that sits just behind the forehead. It\u2019s known as the prefrontal cortex, and it\u2019s responsible for self control, and it manages other cognitive processes such as planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, and mental flexibility.<\/p>\n
At this point, keep in mind that adolescents are at the stage of their lives where they are If teenagers start using alcohol, drugs or cigarettes at this age, they are far more likely to become addicted than if they started later on in life \u2013 after their brains are fully developed. This addiction has damaging effects on the maturing brain.<\/p>\n Binge drinking can actually kill brain cells in the adolescent brain whereas less damage occurs in the adult brain.<\/p>\n Because of the developing brain, adolescents become addicted more easily than adults do.<\/p>\n A recent study of marijuana users<\/a> showed that those who began using it in their teens had substantially reduced connectivity among brain areas responsible for learning and memory.<\/p>\n A\u00a0large, long-term study in New Zealand<\/a> showed that people who began smoking marijuana heavily in their teen years lost an average of 8 IQ points between ages 13 and 38, even when they stopped using as an adult.<\/p>\n MWELL conducts research at schools which looks at the prevalence of mental health issues such as depression; anxiety; stress; anger; alcohol use disorders; and the use of other substances.\u00a0 Our results at a leading Independent School in South Africa were :<\/p>\n These are shocking facts but these brain differences don\u2019t mean<\/strong> that young people can\u2019t make good decisions. Nor does it mean<\/strong> that they can\u2019t tell the difference between right and wrong.<\/p>\n It also doesn\u2019t mean<\/strong> that they shouldn\u2019t be held responsible for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n But it does mean that if we are aware of these developmental differences, we can understand, anticipate, and manage the behaviour of adolescents and be more constructive in our interactions with them.<\/p>\n Remember that the earlier the intervention, the less harm there is, the less the likelihood of permanent risk or damage and the better the treatment outcomes!<\/p>\n Note: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many teenagers \u201chaving fun\u201d at a party is synonymous with binge drinking and smoking weed. Parents are often reluctant to interfere with this so called \u201cadolescent\u201d behaviour without realising how damaging and life altering this can be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":9770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teens-addiction-depression"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/a>seeking and exploring independence. The areas of the brain that are responsible for governing emotions and rewards are more developed than the part that is responsible for inhibitions. This disposes them to risky behaviour (that displays their independence), and they don\u2019t always consider the consequences of their actions as much as adults would like them to \u2013 or as much as they should.<\/p>\nTeenage substance abuse can interfere with normal brain maturation<\/h2>\n
\n
Early Intervention makes a difference<\/h2>\n
\n
![\n<\/a>seeking and exploring independence. The areas of the brain that are responsible for governing emotions and rewards are more developed than the part that is responsible for inhibitions. This disposes them to risky behaviour (that displays their independence), and they don\u2019t always consider the consequences of their actions as much as adults would like them to \u2013 or as much as they should.<\/p>\nTeenage substance abuse can interfere with normal brain maturation<\/h2>\nIf teenagers start using alcohol, drugs or cigarettes at this age, they are far more likely to become addicted than if they started later on in life \u2013 after their brains are fully developed. This addiction has damaging effects on the maturing brain.<\/p>\nBinge drinking can actually kill brain cells in the adolescent brain whereas less damage occurs in the adult brain.<\/p>\nBecause of the developing brain, adolescents become addicted more easily than adults do.<\/p>\nA recent study of marijuana users<\/a> showed that those who began using it in their teens had substantially reduced connectivity among brain areas responsible for learning and memory.<\/p>\nA\u00a0large, long-term study in New Zealand<\/a> showed that people who began smoking marijuana heavily in their teen years lost an average of 8 IQ points between ages 13 and 38, even when they stopped using as an adult.<\/p>\nMWELL conducts research at schools which looks at the prevalence of mental health issues such as depression; anxiety; stress; anger; alcohol use disorders; and the use of other substances.\u00a0 Our results at a leading Independent School in South Africa were :<\/p>\n\n62% of Grade 9s reported drinking alcohol at least once a month during the past year<\/li>\nOver 12% were already at risk of moderate to severe alcohol related problems<\/li>\n17.5% had smoked cannabis during the three months prior to completing the questionnaire<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEarly Intervention makes a difference<\/h2>\nThese are shocking facts but these brain differences don\u2019t mean<\/strong> that young people can\u2019t make good decisions. Nor does it mean<\/strong> that they can\u2019t tell the difference between right and wrong.<\/p>\nIt also doesn\u2019t mean<\/strong> that they shouldn\u2019t be held responsible for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\nBut it does mean that if we are aware of these developmental differences, we can understand, anticipate, and manage the behaviour of adolescents and be more constructive in our interactions with them.<\/p>\nRemember that the earlier the intervention, the less harm there is, the less the likelihood of permanent risk or damage and the better the treatment outcomes!<\/p>\nNote: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\nSubscribe to our free weekly Jozikids\u00a0<\/em>newsletter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 for parents in Gauteng<\/em><\/li>\nLike us on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><\/li>\nFollow us on\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many teenagers \u201chaving fun\u201d at a party is synonymous with binge drinking and smoking weed. Parents are often reluctant to interfere with this so called \u201cadolescent\u201d behaviour without realising how damaging and life altering this can be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":9770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teens-addiction-depression"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Teenage-Brain.jpg\"){kind=link}