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Article - ADOLESCENCE AND ALCOHOL: AN ALARMING RITE OF PASSAGE

Summary/Abstract

Adolescents’ brains and physiology are constantly developing for adulthood – and thus drugs including alcohol and tobacco affect them differently than adults. Aaron White shares the latest research results.

Content

Adolescence is a time of great tumult. It is the transitional stage between childhood dependence and adult independence. Bodies grow, hair sprouts in strange places, members of the opposite sex suddenly become interesting and parents like aliens. It is also a time of intense brain development: a recent revelation in science. We are now beginning to understand that the changes which unfold during adolescence, from neurobiological to social, serve to push children out of the cozy nests made by caregivers and into the world beyond. Conflict with authority, a predilection for risk taking and novelty seeking, disruptive attitudes and even sheer boredom at home, serve as natural wedges to separate adolescents from parents and help to prepare them to function autonomously when the time is right. In this day and age, in most of the western world, the right time tends to come toward the end of the teen years or during the early 20s. Regardless of nationality, the psychological makeup of the typical adolescent predisposes them to make mistakes. The frontal lobes of the brain – which are central to decision making, planning for the future and controlling impulses that are inconsistent with those plans – enter a state of flux soon after the age of 10. During the next decade, the frontal lobes are shaped, molded and fine-tuned to meet the demands of the current environment. -See Attached PDF to Read Entire Article