Friedman's article, "Why Teenagers Act Crazy," offers an extensive look at the topic of adolescent anxiety. Friedman writes this article from a doctor's perspective who has studied the minds of teenagers. This article focuses on how the mind of the average teenager both thinks and works. For generations, the teenage mind has been a jumble of questions. Unlike children and adults, teenagers are not immune to the idea of "being different" and expressing their true colors, but are constantly trying to figure out who they really are. That being said, adolescents "experience more anxiety and fear, and have a harder time learning not be afraid than either children or adults".
Being interested on the topic of the human mind, I found this article to be very informative. Although I myself am an adolescent, Richard Friedman points out many different scenarios that may cause a teen to feel anxiety. For example, he mentions that adolescents "show heightened fear responses and have difficulty learning how not to be afraid". He states that teenagers tend to misinterpret small problems and make them seem larger than life. Similarly, a study by Lucia Tramonte has shown that the average adolescent (aged 10-17) will show "chronic emotional, behavioral, and/or developmental problems" and will greatly affect their "quality of life and ability to full benefit from their school experience". Both studies make valid points regarding adolescent anxiety: because the average teenager is much less experiences in everything compared to an adult, they have not learned how to correctly respond to certain situations. Most of the time, this results in a much exaggerated response. "Since an adolescent's prefrontal cortex is far less matured compared to adults, it has less ability to modulate emotions.".
When reading an Australian article put out by the "Australian Parenting Website," I saw that the trouble among adolescent anxiety is not only relevant in North America, but is seen around the world.
