I’ve recently re-read The Primal Teen, by Barbara Strauch, to help me prepare for an upcoming workshop I’ll be presenting. In the book, Strauch presents findings from several studies showing that the human brain undergoes “dramatic changes around puberty and early adolescents” ( p. 15).
These changes include a thickening of the outer layer, which then thins suddenly and significantly. This thickening is thought to be the result of an “overproduction” of brain cells. Many scientists believe that during this overproduction, “the brain may be highly receptive to new information” (Strauch, p. 15).
While this overproduction is happening during adolescents, there is also a significant amount of synaptic pruning, explaining that sudden thinning. Strauch states that “some dendrite branches and their synapses develop and thrive simply because they’re used the most and grab the most neurochemical juice” (p. 17). On the other hand, less used or unused branches and synapses tend to get pruned.
Life experiences determine which synapses get used and which do not, thereby “impacting the brain’s essential architecture” (Strauch, p. 17). Siegel conceives of the mind as separate from the brain, stating, “The human mind emerges from the activity of the brain, whose structure and function are directly shaped by interpersonal experiences” (p. 1). He continued, “Experience can shape not only what information enters the mind, but the way in which the mind develops the ability to process that information” (p. 16).
However, while experience is shaping the brain during adolescence, “it remains more exposed, more easily wounded, perhaps much more susceptible to critical and long-lasting damage than most parents and educators or even most scientists had though” (Strauch, p. 21).
Taking Risks
It seems to me, based on my experience working with high-needs teen, that this critical time of brain development is also a time of risk-taking and impulsive behavior. In other words, while the brain is at most risk, the likelihood of risk taking is highest. Strauch states, that high impulsivity is “one of the world’s stereotypes about teenagers that just happens to be true” (p. 24). This is true, at least partly, because the frontal lobes, part of the brain that is used to resist impulses, is not yet fully developed in an adolescent’s brain (Strauch, p. 26).
So, all teens are impulsive. That’s not really news. However, this developmental appropriate impulsiveness can manifest itself in extremely different ways.
What is different between “Alex,” a seventeen year old neighbor kid who is on the soccer team, vice president of his class, and planning to attend UW next fall, and “Carl,” a seventeen year old client who has an extensive criminal record that includes auto theft and drug dealing, a history of unsuccessful chemical dependency counseling, and an alphabet soup listing of mental health diagnosis including ADHD, PTSD, and ODD?
Oh, if you saw Carl on the street, you’d think he was in his early 20s, not 17. If you talked to him, though, you’d think he was about 13. It is also important to know that when Carl was four years old, his family was living in their car when he witnessed the death by overdose of both parents. He’s spent most of his life being shuffled between group homes or on the run.
Is the differences between neighbor kid Alex and Carl a case of use-it-or-lose-it synaptic pruning? Carl’s past experiences have certainly had significant influence on his current multi-dimensional challenges, but it seems to me there must be more.
When asked, Carl describes his past risky behaviors—from stealing cars to having unprotected sex—by stating that such behavior “gives me a rush you just can’t believe.” Strauch cites several studies that suggest risk-taking in teens is developmentally necessary, a way to test boundaries and explore autonomy. In addition, adolescent risk taking involves “complex interactions across several brain systems of motivation and reward, including those that involve the neurotransmitter dopamine—one of the key brain chemicals that carry and influence the messages between nerve cells” (Dahl, qtd in Strauch, p. 92). However, not all teens steal cars, deal drugs, become meth addicts, and end up as my clients—even when they have pasts similar to Carl’s.
Could the answer be that Carl has an imbalance in dopamine that compels him to take riskier risks? Could the answer be that having physically matured earlier than his peers he has a particular vulnerability because his brain is “an engine without a driver” (Dahl, qtd in Strauch, p. 96). The answer to these questions would seemingly suggest very different treatment strategies.
If Carl has a chemical imbalance, medication would probably be an appropriate treatment approach. If he simply needs to mentally catch up with his physical development, perhaps he simply needs to be kept safe until this happens. That might suggest he needs a more structured environment, as his current home environment is clearly not preventing him from engaging in risky, even life-threatening, behavior. Or, maybe he just needs better choices of risky behavior. Could activities such as hang gliding, snow boarding, mountain climbing, and auto racing “cure” Carl?
Riskier Risks
All teens do not become chemically dependent car thieves. However, it does seem to me that, in general adolescents today take riskier risks than in the past. I hypothesize that there are three inter-related reasons for this. First, adolescence starts earlier than ever before, with the onset of puberty at eleven or twelve in many cases. That means youth are younger when physical development begins and their drive for autonomy surfaces. However, the onset of cognitive development, especially problem solving abilities, has remained consistent. This leads to physical maturity without cognitive maturity. I have certainly witnessed this with Carl and other clients.
Second, adolescence ends later, both physically and culturally, generally not ending until the early 20s (or even later). Combined, these factors have led to a significantly longer period of time spent within The Danger Gap, that space where physical development has raced significantly ahead of cognitive development.
Finally, there's the third reason: risks lurking within that Danger Gap are riskier today than ever before. A few examples: the THC levels in marijuana are now as high as 25-30%, making it more addictive than in the past; other substances of abuse, such as meth and crack, are highly addictive and readily available; youth are less supervised then ever before, and this lack of supervision starts at an earlier age.
Siegel wrote, “Experience, gene expression, mental activity, behavior, and continued interactions with the environment are tightly linked in a transactional set of processes” (p. 19). These processes that begin at birth continue into adolescence and beyond. Perhaps it is these early experiences that influence how a teen will respond to the ever-growing Danger Gap. Perhaps for Carl, his early life experiences have created synaptic connections that compel him to engage in the highest risk behaviors available to him.
If this were the answer, it would seem a combination of treatment strategies is most appropriate. In other words, keep him out of danger while he continues to cognitively develop, encourage participation in “appropriate” risky behavior, but also expose him to experiences that allow new, more adaptive synaptic connections to be nurtured.
Works Cited
Siegel, D. (1999). Developing Mind, The. New York: Guilford Press.
Strauch, B. (2003). Primal Teen, The. New york: Anchor Books.
