Do you ever feel that there are times when you behave in certain ways and do things that you would rather not? That you feel moody and don’t know why? That people around you complain that you are rude or unpredictable and that even you are confused about why you do the things you do?
Moody and irritable and you don’t know why? It is your brain’s fault!
Turns out your brain is still developing even until 25 years old, and this is why you may be feeling moody, irrational, impulsive, irritable, or forgetful.
The frontal lobe of your brain is the last part to develop and this is the important bit needed to help you with controlling your impulses, help you make good decisions, and remember all the important things you need to do.
As you leave school and enter student life, you are dealing with so many changes: social, emotional, and cognitive. To properly manage all these changes, you need your brain’s pre-frontal cortex to be fully developed, which it isn’t. This means your emotions will feel more intense: ecstatically happy, deeply depressed, or furiously angry.
50% of people under 25 may sometimes struggle to understand facial expressions, which could mean misunderstandings, fights, and disagreements with friends and family.
All of this can be frustratingly confusing for you if you don’t know about these changes happening in your own brain. Hopefully understanding that there is a real reason for this, can help you make sense of some of it.
Luckily, even though you cannot control your overwhelming feelings, you can choose what your responses are to those feelings, and find safe ways in which to let off steam or take time out. It may help to explain to your friends and family how the brain works so that they can understand as well, help you, and maybe give you a little slack..!
[This is the first in a series of three articles | Part 2: Happy Hormones | Part 3: Make Your Own Happy Chemicals]
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