Fall Health and Wellness 2022

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Of Teens
Starting with physical changes, Sikes tells us the physical changes that an adolescent
goes through are mostly obvious: their bones and muscles are expanding, their organ systems
grow, their facial structure changes. Teens begin growing hair in new places, and they
begin experiencing “sexual maturation.”
With all these changes comes a stress that many children might have never faced:
as their body grows and changes, their self-image may change too. They are no longer the
soft-faced, small child they were — they shot up three feet, their features have sharpened to
show a chin and cheek bones, and sometimes they have not quite grown into their limbs.
This is just one of the aspects that can play into a teen’s mental health. As teens grow older,
they gain brand new experiences — autonomy, hormone changes, social pressures, facing
the future, staying ahead in school — all things that add to the pile and can create stress.
The brand-new social aspect of being a teen can compound this. You are talking to more
people, making deeper connections with friends, potentially even getting into romantic
relationships for the first time. Meanwhile you are taking on more
responsibility at home, getting a job and ordering your
own pizza. Quite suddenly, the world has
opened up.
...............PHOTOGRAPHY BY TYLER MEISTER
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