Effects of Puberty on Adolescent Girl's Mental Health

This article discusses the impact of puberty on the mental health of adolescent girls. It covers the challenges they face, such as body image issues, identity crisis, and conflicting thoughts. It also provides tips on how parents and guardians can help them navigate this sensitive stage.

Effects of puberty on adolescent girl’s mental health
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EFFECTS OF PUBERTY ON ADOLESCENT GIRL’S MENTAL HEALTH
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Introduction
Puberty refers to the stage of the development of a boy or a girl where the process of physical
and sexual change is experienced as the individuals become sexually active. During this stage,
the body of an adolescent starts developing which is hormonal initiated whereby body starts

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developing both physical and emotional sexually which are different for both genders and also
appear at the diverse set of time. Girls are known to emerge from the ages of nine which earlier
than boys which start producing at the age of twelve. The time of developing differs from one
person to another according to the environment, the foods that one feeds on, the genetic
composition of a person and also nature can affect the body structure of a person (LeMoult et al.
2018, pg. 6).
Some of the sexual changes for ladies include the growth of breast, smoothening of the face
while others start developing pimples, ovulation, broadening of hips, and an increase in weight
among others. Some of these changes may affect the esteem of the girls which makes them very
shy to present themselves before people and denying self-acceptance. In boys, the sexual
modifications include; breaking of voice, growing of beards, broadening of the chest,
experiencing wet dreams, and weight increase among others. Like girls, boys are also affected
by the breaking of voice which makes them shy off and sometimes try to hide it (Freud, 2018,
pg. 17).
During puberty, the bodies of the adolescents become very active sexually and are sensitive
when interacting with the opposite gender to appoint that they can talk, share or play together as
they used to do from childhood. They start maturing both mentally and physically due to the
response of the glands and hormones which makes them behave like mature people. The function
of their body and their mind due to their hormonal which makes them start acting like adults, and
also they start changing to the undertaking of the adult's role. They also start realizing the need to
be clean, taking birth daily, brushing and even applying cosmetics like sprays and makeups to
look more beautiful.

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Body
The sexual development and changes have been a significant challenge that most adolescents are
facing during their early years of growth and development which is brought the rapid evolution
of their body functions. The changes are happening unexpectedly which makes the have a tough
time to adjust to the changes and others end up denying themselves and thus neglecting their
bodies. Adolescent girls have preferences regarding looks, height, body size among others which
is as a result of the actors, presenters or a character they admire, whereby they expect to be like
the failure to that they esteem is lowered (Jeffery et al. 2018, pg.225).
The ladies are the most affected by the puberty process which mostly affects their behaviors and
if they lack guidance they may end up to being ruined morally by the peers. During this time the
adolescent needs a very near follow up to man their behavior due to the emotional growth which
may drive them very mad and can lead them to indulge in entrusted behaviors. The young girls
are mostly affected emotionally, mentally and even socially which affects their interaction with
the community. The effects have been so severe even the ladies start losing their character and
can be transformed to either positive or a negative form (Wierenga et al. 2018, pg. 109).
As seen earlier puberty is a very critical stage in the human's life which can make or break their
life according to how it is handled and the environment the child is growing in. As stated on the
topic one of the effects it poses to the individuals include mental health which is one of the
sensitive aspects of life. Mental health is very vital for every human being's survival and if it
affected slighted and there is malfunctioning the person can lose the value of being a human
being to an animal whereby he or she starts acting more or less the same as an animal. Once the

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mental health is affected slighted the person can lose the typical character and start acting weird
which mostly affects his or her social life (Poppelaars et al. 2018).
Some of the mental effects of the puberty process to a lady are feeling conscious about oneself
which is caused by is caused by the different developmental process amongst the peers. Once a
girl grows up with a friend she expects that they are going to experience everything the same
way and at the same time whereby the opposite can be a bother. The girl becomes very sensitive
and very uncomfortable before her peers and more so the opposite gender.
Another mental health effect on a girl is that she can start experiencing conflicting thoughts
where she does not want to appreciate that she is growing but want to get stuck between
childhood and puberty. Many of the ladies are profoundly affected by the early stages of puberty
and don't want to build from the child but always wants to be treated like a child even others
threaten to commit suicide (Paschall, and Bersamin, 2018, pg 48).
Another mental problem that befalls girl child during puberty is identity crisis which is brought
about by the peer influence due to the environment she has been brought up in. The identity
crisis makes the girl experience uncertain feelings of belonging which comes with the
development which leads to one trying to identify her with the right and shift from the older
group. For a girl, she starts following her mother or associating her with people they are facing
the same passage (Kim, and Hagquist, 2018, pg. 105).
During puberty, the girl starts getting sexual feelings which affects her mind by regulating her
past behavior and if not monitored well can be lured easily by her peers. Sexual feelings are
vigorous for a lady, and if she is not controlled, she can be affected mentally in a way that she

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becomes a victim of the sentiments than her controlling them for the right. Also, it is at this point
where the peer pressure gets in and can make the little girl run mad and rebellious to her parents
and guardians (Auslander et al. 2018, pg. 117).
Puberty is a susceptible stage in the growth of a person, and great care should be taken to make
sure the adolescent gets the best environment during the transition to regulate their behavior. One
their mental health is affected the mental health is to change the coordination of the psychology
is tempered to one can wander in the fate of the evil world.
Some of the signs of affected mental health include; mood swings whereby the girls' moods
cannot be predicted, and she becomes complicated to deal with. A girl can also develop shyness
whereby it becomes hard to express herself and always considers spending most of the time
away from people and alone. Also, she can also be very rebellious and rude as she is not able to
express herself and always complaining that no one wants to understand her (Johnson et al. 2018,
pg. 156).
It is the mandate of every parent and guardian to keep a strict eye to the adolescent and help the
maneuver in the sensitive puberty stage which can ruin her life. It very essential that the parents
learn of the signs of the mental effects caused by that transition stage and look for a way of
walking the girl out whole that letting her suffer in the fateful hands of the world which can ruin
her character and personality for life.
Conclusion
As we have seen earlier the effects and the signs of the puberty developing process, therefore it is
essential we highlight a few points on the way of regulating the whole state and bring up a lady

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who is mental and morally upright without any scars from the past experiences. Some of the
means of controlling them are by always preparing them psychologically for the changes before
they appear and teach them that it is a normal stage for every lady. Also, the girls should be told
about the importance of keeping themselves clean and beautiful so that their self-esteem is not
affected (Gartner, and Sterzing, 2018, pg. 14).
Every parent should walk with the children to make sure that as look for their identity they do
not fall on shaky hands of the evil companies that instead of helping them grow up well morally
will ruin. They should also be advised on their boy-girl relationship which will be risked at this
level of their growth whereby a slight mistake can lead to pregnancy because they are sexually
active. They should be hidden from anything but the truth be said to them to them to make them
aware lest they mess around. Though puberty is an essential stage of transitions in human beings'
growth, it should be taken with great care to avoid losing the girls.
References
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