Teen Emotions and Life

A teen deals with lots of emotional highs and lows. One minute they might feel great, and the next they feel sad and tearful. This kind of shift in moods is OK! Their life is changing, just like their body.

These mood swings are not just hormones - they may be feeling a lot more pressure, and they are still developing the skills they need to deal with that pressure. They may be facing added responsibilities at home and school, tougher grading policies in school, their friends may be changing, etc. There are a lot of pressures on teens today, and many challenges and decisions they have to make.

As they grow older teens will develop the skills they need to reduce stress or cope with it, but for now, just remember they are in a tough spot and need all the support they can get. We encourage them to reach out to adults and friends.

This section is devoted to issues involving emotions and relationships. Being human is an emotional experience -- we all have our moments of happiness, sadness, anger, depression, anxiety and a host of others feelings. How do we deal with those emotions? Are some harder to handle than others? This section deals with those issues.

• Teens and violence prevention
• Teens and depression
• Parenting a teen
• Helping teens make responsible choices
• Teens and middle school
• The Life Skills Series

Last reviewed March 2009
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