Adolescence and Internal Change

The endocrine change. Do you remember the names and functions of the endocrine glands? You will remember that the endocrines hold the keys to many body functions and that the pituitary is the keystone to several of these functions.

One of the most important hormones of the pituitary is secreted during adolescence. This hormone starts the process by which adolescents become mature men and women. It causes the secretion of male hormones in men and female hormones in women. It is these hormones that produce  the marked physical changes that occur during adolescence.

The female hormones produce the changes in body structure, appearance, and voice that make a mature woman. The male hormones produce the changes in body structure, appearance, and voice that make a mature man. These changes are stimulated by the pituitary, and are controlled by heredity. Some boys and girls will begin to mature early in their adolescence and others will begin to mature later. The timing of the change, however, has nothing to do with the eventual maturity of the individual or with his or her attractiveness. You may have guessed that these factors are controlled by heredity, too. Adolescent voice changes. One of the most easily observed adolescent changes is a change in voice quality. In boys, the rapid change in the larynx, or voice box, creates a new voice, which is lower in pitch. In girls, where the change in size of the vocal folds, or cords, is not as great, the changes in pitch and quality are not so pronounced.

Sometime during his adolescence every boy goes through a period when his voice is unreliable. It may be high pitched one moment and deep the next. This uncomfortable situation is temporary and is caused by the changes in the voice box. During adolescence the voice box falls to a lower position in the throat and the vocal folds lengthen. The longer the folds become, the lower the boy’s voice becomes.

While the boy’s vocal folds are changing, he may not have complete control over them. When he is excited or tired, the muscles controlling the vocal cords may tighten, and the boy’s voice will rise in pitch. Happily, this condition does not last long.

Think for Yourself

How can a boy whose voice is changing help to avoid the in pitch that sometimes occur?

Maintaining Mental Health - Understanding feelings of rebellion

Understanding feelings of rebellion. When you have become as old as you are now, you may find that you disagree with some of your parents’ and teachers’ values and ways of doing things. You feel that you want to make decisions for yourself and do not want someone to make them for you. You are learning to become independent and are forming more of your own personality.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that sooner or later you will work out your own ways of doing things. Instead of going your own way and ignoring the advice of adults com­pletely, talk over some of your prob­lems with your parents, clergyman, guidance counselor, and teachers. It may surprise you to find that they can be a great help in finding answers to your problems.

Never forget the possibility that you may be rebelling against people just for the sake of rebellion. You may be so eager to show that you are mature that you forget that most of your par­ents’ values are extremely sound. It is a mature person who can look at his own feelings of rebellion and realize that sometimes they have little basis in reality. If you can look at your feelings in this way, you have taken a giant step toward adulthood.

After you have considered these four areas of mental health–maintaining self-confidence, making ad­justments, controlling emotions, and understanding feelings of rebellion—-you may have a better idea of the ways to change your personality and main­tain good mental health.

Try This
Make a list of all the emotions you have felt today. Check the ones you think were not controlled as well as they could have been. Check the emotions you have felt today that you feel were of value to you.

Maintaining Mental Health - Making adjustments

Making adjustments. A second aspect of good mental health is the ability to make adjustments to different situations. You cannot succeed in everything you do, and in order to be happy you will have to adjust to situations in which you do not get what you want and to situations that you do not enjoy.

There are many things that could happen to make you unhappy or to disappoint you. Perhaps you worked hard and tried out for a part in a class play. But you failed to get the part. You may have needed more practice, or you may have failed to get the part be­cause there were others competing for the part who had more talent and skill. Or perhaps someone else got the part simply because he seemed to fit the part better, physically.

There are several ways you could react to such a failure. You could lose your temper and complain loudly, making everyone around you uncom­fortable. You could stay by yourself and daydream about being a successful and greatly admired actor or actress. You could make excuses for not going to the play and even become ill the day of the performance. But none of these would be a satisfactory adjustment. These are all ways of running away from the real difficulty.

What are some of the ways you could adjust? You could use the method of compensation. In this method, you would decide to do something to help make the play a success, whether that would mean painting scenery, selling tickets, ushering, or making posters. If you failed to act as well as others, you could accept the fact that you did not quite "measure up," and that perhaps you never would become good enough to take part in a play. Then, you could enjoy other activities that make a play a success. When you use the method of compensation to adjust to a failure, you are showing a mature attitude and signs of good mental health.

Think for Yourself
In what situations is compensation a mature method of reacting?