Do teenagers feel emotions more strongly than an adult would?

Question

I have noticed that there are a lot more teenagers out there that are made sad easier and a more easily angered than the normal child or adult would. I know that there are chemical imbalances in the teenage body, but do these imbalances cause a teenager to be more sensitive than the average adult or even child? Adults, I've observed, are more calm and able to handle things smoothly than teenagers can; I have even seen young children being praised for doing thing "so maturely". These children then hit teenhood and they become rebellious and sexual, but why is this?
Is it just chemical imbalances in their body or something more? Does the transition from child to adult mess around with their heads in some way OTHER than just hormones??

I'm sorry for askin' such a technical question; I just find it so weird that since my childhood i have turned from a intellectual pop princess to a semi-nerdy, boy-crazy, wanna-be-rockstar in just a few years' time.

Yes, I am a teen. 15. I have been homeschooled since kindergarten so I'm used to constantly thinking about something lol.
Thanks. :)

Answer 1

Well, if you are a teenager yourself, then I'm totally impressed by your level of introspection, not to mention your writing skills. I hope you go to college, 'cuz you'll do great!

That being said, I don't think a person's level of emotion changes a whole lot over their lifetime. What changes is how they express it. I for one was never super-emotional. Some people are raving lunatics from infancy straight to their dying day. In general, though, kids are not known for their calm demeanor. Maybe you happen to know some well-mannered kids, but I know some real fruit-loops, and they get mad whenever things don't go their way. But they cry and hollar and really go ape. Teenagers get more dramatic and over-the-top in a soap opera kind of way, and adults can get very scathing and explosive when they're angry or emotional. Then they become elderly and go back to being whiny. But all of those groups get mad for the same reason- because things aren't going their way.

As far as emotions of love and so forth, yeah... teenagers do take the cake. Reason being, it's new to them. The first time you fall in love, it's totally a unique experience that's never ever happened before, so it's easy to feel like it very well may never happen again... or if it does, surely it won't be as stellar as this! The same applies to your first few crushes or boyfriends or whatever... it's the lack of experience. Once you've dated enough people to populate a small city, there's just a lot less to write home about I suppose.

The rebelliousness is a part of entering into adulthood... it's a painful process for the adults and the kids because the kids think they're more mature than they really are, while the parents are more inclined to underestimate how ready their kids are for responsibility and freedom. Obtaining freedom is never a pretty thing, so that's where the rebelliousness kicks in.

Maybe hormones play some part in it (i'm sure they do) but a lot of it is just the psychology of going from being dependant to independant, and the power struggles that come with it... as well as opening to all of the ups and downs of the adult life for the very first time.

But trust me, it's all very normal. :)

Answer 2

Hormones can make you a little crazy, but the need to learn more complex social behavoirs and the discovery of social mistakes is another large part of what makes teenage life so terribly dramatic and tragic and foreign. Teens are feeling and encountering a lot of social situations for the first time and the stakes seem impossibly high. It is like being on "The Great Race" every second of the day. Should you talk to this person? Why is that person looking at you like that? Your ego and your social position seem to be on the line constantly. But as you live longer and you have your own experience and that of your friends to work off of, things take on a more familiar look - you are not lost in the wilderness, you are just moving along a different path. With time you get perspective: just one year out of high school the people who seemed to hold your social future in their hands are just some kids you know who are struggling with jobs and relationships and are strangely glad to see you - like you all survived some ordeal together - and you did. About the time you hit your mid-twenties, your temper is under control, your personal relationships are better (because your temper is under control), your parents were right about a lot of stuff and you can look back at teens thrashing in the storm and say "Hey, calm down, it is going to be OK."

Answer 3

I'm 12 and I want to die too. I feel like there is no intention in life. Find something else to obsess over. Like I'm addicted to twilight. Try thinking positive, know that you still have a life ahead of you. Just because you don't have a love interest or many friends, it doesn't mean you won't ever. Life lays ahead of you, you just have to work towards it. Life is give to you once, cherish it. Make something out of it. If you like writing. You should go on fan fiction or fiction press. Everyone loves a great emotional story. And may be you will become a famous writer some day. You found a hobby, now you have to express it. Btw, if you make a fan fiction account. I might read it =P

Answer 4

Hormones are a part of it, as is the sudden realization that the opposite (or same) sex is WAY more interesting than they used to be. So as a early teen, a whole new world opens up suddenly. So you're more passionate about EVERYTHING than a kid would be

Also, you have to remember that being an adult is all about repressing your feelings so that you can do what has to be done for your spouse and children. When adults give you a hard time for being open and in touch with your feelings, it's because we're jealous and we WISH we could still let our emotions run full strength.

So enjoy it as long as you can, and don't become an adult too completely. Hang onto your passion as long and as much as you can.

Answer 5

Todays society pushes young kids to be more mature, and they are not allowed to be kids. Both parents work to make ends meet, and so the kids are forced to grow up faster than they should. By the time the kids are adults, they have already gone through enough that some things don't even phase them. In turn they push their kids, because they had to do it, so why can't their kids. It is a lose, lose situation for some families.

Answer 6

Yes I think they do. It has a lot to do with ever changing hormones as you go thru puberty and then into the world and being able to have more freedom, your eager to try new things and hormones are a huge driving force. Looking back there is NO WAY I would want to go thru it again. I am raising teenagers now and I tell people its like trying to nail jello to a wall, one day everything is fine and the next...its ever changing PMS

Answer 7

i think it's because you get so many different messages from everyone about what is expected of you....your parents want you to stay as you were, society is telling you to become more rebelious, peers are pulling in differetnt directions at different ratesetc... so you have no idea what the heck is supposed to be done. i'm incredibly emotional and i missed out on a lot of growing up when i was younger so maybe it's not a chemical thing but all about exploring who you want to become when the time is still right. when you are more settled with who you are you should hopefully stop swinging from one thing to another quite so quickly.
hope i can sort it out soon to.

Answer 8

Of course hormones are efecting you, but it also has to do with the person in general. If you have grown up as a slightly sensitive person then hormones would probebly highten your sensitivity. I'm no doctor or scientist so I'm not positive, but in my opinion I believe hormones can have a strong efect on a teenager's emotions. I'm not saying if you grow up as a calm, rasional person that you won't get upset but I think it has a lot to do with sensativity.

Answer 9

I just went over this in my Anatomy lab. In short no, the teenage brain hasn't fully matured so teenagers can not control their emotions as easily as adults. It's not that you feel something more strongly, it's that the brain hasn't quite gotten a hang of controlling all the stimulus going on.

Answer 10

I think they feel emotions about the same, it's just that teenagers have not yet learned the coping skills necessary to deal with those emotions that many adults have (not adults have or do learn those, there are adults that act emotional as well).