Why is my brain so loud?

Our teenage brain is constantly going through changes. Connections are being strengthened and unused connections that make up our child brain are being pruned away. Areas of the brain are becoming more involved in processing and interpreting emotions as our brain develops. But why during adolescence are our brains so loud?

During adolescence hormones are being released to bring about physical changes. This causes emotions to become heightened. With the brain re-wiring itself, it struggles to regulate feelings helping us explain why adolescence can be such an emotional time.

Think of a toddler. You might have a younger sibling of this age. What are they good at? Tantrums. Because toddlers don’t have little emotions. They have BIG and LOUD emotions. Their emotions are controlled by the midbrain. This part cannot control emotions very easily. Teenagers are somewhat similar. When our front lobe shuts down for rewiring, our emotions fall back upon the limbic system. The limbic system also controls our threat response. Our emotions are heightened, with fear and anger becoming more common in our day to day lives as we see more threats we may not have seen as threats before. This is why anxiety is so common among adolescents.

Our emotions are heightened, with fear and anger becoming more common in our day to day lives as we see more threats we may not have seen as threats before.

Having loud emotions can be a good thing. Sometimes, we enjoy feeling them. At this age, horror movies and sad movies become more popular as we chase those loud feelings.

Though it can be extremely hard, having loud feelings is completely normal. We have to go through this to let our frontal lobe finish developing. Our brain is being strengthened allowing for a higher rate of co-ordinated thinking, behaviour and growth. It allows us to be flexible and easily learn, grow and adapt.

Your adolescent brain is not broken. It has been proven that though the teenage brain experiences hardships, there are positive aspects to this time of growth that we aren’t able to see. Teenagers are more likely to positively affect their peers and influence good behaviours.

It is also important to know that if your emotions feel too overwhelming, there is help available. There is counselling, support lines, and friends. Don’t hesitate to ask for help if need it.

So next time you think your head is about to explode with emotions, random thoughts or anything else that makes your brain feel loud. Just think that you are going through the same things as others around you and you are not alone.

Mackenzie N, Year 11