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[溫哥華本地新聞] Brain torture: rejection, humilation particularly traumatic
Brain torture: rejection, humilation particularly traumatic for teen girls, expert says
Rejection and humiliation by a peer group is one of the worst kinds of “brain torture” a teenage girl can experience, according to an American neurobiologist and expert on the female brain.
Reward centres in the teenage brain are stimulated by social interaction and approval, said Dr. Louann Brizendine, a clinician at the University of California, San Francisco and author of the best-selling book The Female Brain. This is because the teenage years are when young adults typically venture out to form their own social circles beyond the family and search for potential mates, she said.
“That social circuitry is really intensely activated, especially in teen girl brains,” she said.
“If you have social isolation or you are being rejected or you’re being bullied, that whole area of your brain ... goes dark, and it can throw some people into a suicidal depression.
“The bullying in the teen group is almost like the worst sort of brain torture that you can imagine.”
Teens may not have the support they need to cope with such trauma because they’re trying to individuate from their parents and may act out in hurtful ways to push them away, Brizendine explained.
“Teenage girls have a way of making their parents really mad at them,” she said, explaining that this is partly because the teen perceives the parent as the enemy of that developmental push within their own brains.
The teen’s perception of self, their social life and even their future plans become centred around the peer group, she said.
“All of a sudden, the peer group is everything, and if there’s bullying and the peer group seems to turn on the teen, they feel isolated,” she said. “They truly feel their life is over.”
Add humiliation to the mix, which often happens when embarrassing photos are viewed, shared and commented on by anyone through social media, and the “brain pain” becomes exponentially worse, Brizendine said.
“The stress hormone cortisol just skyrockets in that kind of situation where you’re feeling social disapproval, humiliation and pain, and we know that ... stress hormones staying up for too long can cause acute depression.”
This creates a dilemma for parents who want to be there for their teen, but may be rebuffed whenever they try to reach out, Brizendine said.
Parents need to keep in mind that individuation is a normal process that may be painful at times, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t keep tabs on their teen, she said.
“They should not just go away and not pay attention. They should find creative ways to snoop,” she said.
Parents who notice that their teen has become isolated or depressed and won’t talk to them about it should try to convince them to see a family doctor or a counsellor, she said.
“Society still holds parents responsible for teenagers, but teenagers don’t reach out in their moments of social isolation.” |
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發表於 2012-10-15 06:54
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