Adolescents are in a life-crisis of dissociation and we need to ask them more questions and listen carefully to their answers.
Adolescence is a time when young people must establish and nurture intimate relationships to develop their sense of identity, independence, self-confidence, self-control, and social skills. At this stage of development, the teen brain is in an expected but unique state of imbalance when the prospect of immediate reward and social approval from peers far outweighs the desire to avoid or even contemplate risk.
Those risks have changed. Previous work with adolescents focused on the external risks — drug use and binge-drinking, drunk driving, cigarette use, and early-age sexual activity. Statistically, the most prevalent risks are those driven by technology, a pandemic and the unrelenting barrage of reports of violence, worldwide unrest and the existential threat of climate change. The result among the young is evermore depression, suicide, social isolation, eating disorders and gaming addictions.
A new adolescent culture has emerged: a culture of comparison.
At a time when the brain’s regulatory functions are being challenged biologically with earlier hormonal stimulation and younger pubertal changes, adolescents are simultaneously, if not causally, bombarded with external stimuli from social media. DMs, apps, streaming, and gaming is their primary form of communication and socialization. This technology drives comparison and judgment through its continuous and instant access to visual feedback about appearance, performance, and narcissistic social skills.
Adolescents are having to confront the trifecta of social media, Covid, and societal upheaval.
Remaining present, staying focused and finding stillness has now more than ever become the fundamental adolescent struggle. Young people need to feel safe, secure, seen and heard. Social media — with its intentionally addictive algorithms, incessant communication systems, and mass commodification of attention — explicitly disrupts these needs.
T.L.C: Teen Life Coalition
Adolescents, caught in the current a “perfect storm” of social media, covid and societal upheaval need the benefit of an intentional, informed, and mindful reboot. Yet, so much of what is written about the current adolescent life crisis is written by specialists who have not asked adolescents what they themselves care about, what they actually experience, what they think are the issues and what they consider acceptable solutions.
Most guidelines about mitigating risk factors are written without youth collaboration , and focus on policing, monitoring and censorship. And parents are at a loss: they are themselves immersed in social media, overwhelmed, and confused about how to care for their teenagers and young adults, many of whom moved home during Covid and fell apart. Statistics are dire: more than 50% of the youth/young adult population struggle with:
ANXIETY
DISORDERED EATING
GENDER DYSMORPHIA
FAILURE TO LAUNCH
DEPRESSION
LOW SELF-ESTEEM IN OUR HIGHLY COMPARATIVE CULTURE LEADS TO POOR BODY IMAGE ( EATING DISORDERS) LOW ENERGY ( DEPRESSION) HIGH STRESS ( ANXIETY) SCHOOL FAILURE/FAILURE TO LAUNCH INTO THE ADULT WORLD WITH CONFIDENCE. SYMPTOMS OF THESE CONDITIONS INCLUDE GI DISTRESS, POOR SLEEP, IRRITABILITY, SOCIAL ISOLATION AND FAILURE IN SCHOOL/WORK AND SUICIDAL IDEATION OR SUICIDE. AND PARENTAL ALIENATION.
Teen Life Coalition groups are teen advocacy groups, not teen therapy groups. The goal is to engage, empower and enrich. They need to lead healthy lives, fuel their neurodevelopment, cobat inflammatory stressful physiological imbalances, learn coping skills, stabilize their gut biomes to maximize energy levels, and sleep peacefully.
