Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about Teenagers.
I have a theory to explain this which I formulated many years ago and have yet to find something to contradict it. This is that I believe teenagers experience a form of amnesia during these ‘formative years’ which results in a considerably altered sense of perception and consequently a dramatic impact on or change in their behaviour. I also believe it may actively block out positive experiences and memories that the individuals have experienced.
One of the main effects of this behaviour would be that teenagers are unable to remember anything that anyone has ever done for them, to help them or that was nice for them – which gives them the impression they have nothing for which to be grateful or thankful. I believe that it may mean they also either cannot recall positive or come to focus on purely negative aspects/experience of/from their life – in turn leading to downcast, reclusive and/or retaliatory demeanours.
This exclusion of the positive may also mean a developed belief that their current experiences/life are less special than that of which they perhaps have a sense and consequently a resentment forms over the perceived fact that such days are now ‘over’.
I am unsure as to what could be the cause of such a state – my preferred theory is that it is due to a fluctuation in hormones or cerebral chemicals which teenagers experience as part of the developmental changes they undergo during these years. Another possible cause could be the mental or physical stress they go through. They are, after all, going through puberty which could be viewed as a potentially psychologically traumatic time – and they are also faced with sitting exams that will determine their future and consequently possibly any hopes of success in later life.
Such things may not seem considerable in themselves to older individuals who have a) been through them and come out the other side and/or b) have since experienced incidents of greater or more significant magnitude, stress or effect but for someone with the limited life experience that teenagers possess it must seem, at times, almost insurmountable.
My reasoning for this stems from a moment I remember from my own teenage years where I asked myself what my parents had ever done for me and I honestly could not remember a single thing – not one incident occurred to me where my parents had done something to my benefit or aid. I know that sounds ungrateful and I don’t know why this was the case – particularly as towards the end of my teen years I began to be able to recall examples of my parents magnanimity and sacrifices.
This has led me to believe there is some thing that prevents or obscures the memories of people of teenage years from recalling and appreciating the current (& previous) positive aspects of their lives. Something blocks these positive memories which are crucial to appreciating and creating an accurate idea of their position in the world and in the affections of those around them. This same thing prevents them from realising just how much they mean or how far others would go for them and would consequently give them a sense of isolation, abandonment and increased disconnection – again potentially leading to resentment and consequently reactionary hostility.
As I say, my preferred suggestion as to the cause of this is hormones or some sort of chemical imbalance which is resolved by the time the individual reaches adulthood.
I sometimes consequently wonder what impact this theory - if it was proved to be correct - would have on the teenage population.
Would it mean a remedial chemical or antidote would be formulated to combat the effects of this amnesia? Would it lead to a greater understanding and therefore acceptance of the emotional fluctuations experienced by and from teenagers? Or would it simply come to be an accepted fact and nothing would change?
Who knows?
