Session 2: Understanding adolescence

Introduction

Welcome to the second session of Introduction to adolescent mental health, in which you will learn about the stage of development known as adolescence. You will also have the opportunity to draw upon many of the insights you gained in Session 1 about mental health and its complexities. To get started, watch a short video in which two young women – Martha and Josie – talk about what it was like to be an adolescent.

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 1: Reflecting on adolescence

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Transcript: Video 1: Reflecting on adolescence

SPEAKER 1

Well, I remember being at school and I’d say it was quite a confusing time, a lot of pressure.

SPEAKER 2

Yeah, I definitely remember the transition from going from sec school to like A-levels. I moved from one school to another, so I definitely remember having to join in to like new social group and like new different groups and try and like say 10. So I definitely remember that transition.

SPEAKER 1

Yeah, and I just feel like everyone was hormonal, it was really cliquey. And it was like the pressure to conform to what everyone else is doing because if you’re doing something different then you’re outcast or bullied, picked on, like you had to keep up with the latest fashion trends. Yeah and also, it’s a time where you’re so self-conscious. You’re coming into like an adult, everything’s changing, the way you look your body changes, you don’t really know yourself. I was trying to figure everything out. But we’ve blocked like six for now.

SPEAKER 2

Yeah, yes a challenging time.

SPEAKER 1

Yeah, when we were doing our A-levels we’ve just blocked completely out because it was so bad and we felt rubbish.

SPEAKER 2

I think-- and the main reason for that was probably just like exams at the same time as when you’re in a stage where you’re just trying to like impress people and be friends with everyone. And then you’ve got this massive pressure of exams that you never really felt like before, like obviously we had GCSEs but A-levels meant so much more and everyone kept saying these actually count GCSEs don’t count, and then it affects your whole life because you don’t get your A-levels and you can’t get into being the best you want to go to. So I think that was definitely an added pressure.

SPEAKER 1

So like I remember, when I passed my driving test and driving by myself for the first time, that was a great feeling. The first time we went to town together--

SPEAKER 2

Yeah.

SPEAKER 1

or like going out drinking for the first time it was never exciting.

SPEAKER 2

Yeah, and I think obviously we did have the pressures but I think a lot of the positives came from just having more freedom and being trusted and establishing that balance of what you could and couldn’t do was quite fun. By testing the water a bit, and seeing how far you could push it and how much responsibility you could be given. And I think the more trust you got and the more you know that things didn’t go wrong, the more freedom you were given and it was an exciting time definitely. And I think as well like friendship groups are still forming in a way like you’re still trying to find out who’s similar to you, and then obviously as you get older that narrows down but I feel like adolescence is quite a good time when you spread your wings and just meet lots of different people.

End transcript: Video 1: Reflecting on adolescence

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Video 1: Reflecting on adolescence

In this second session, you will learn how ‘adolescence’ is defined and why it is a time of development in a person’s life that brings its own set of challenges. You’ll gain some understanding of young people’s experiences, as well as what is going on in their brains at the same time. It isn’t always clear what is ‘normal’ when it comes to adolescent behaviour and mental health, indeed the very idea of what is normal can be questioned. This session will conclude by trying to shed some light on the idea of normality as it applies to adolescence.