Puberty and Mental Health in Adolescents

Puberty is a process of neuroendocrine change that marks the start of adolescence and prepares a person to reproduce. Characterized by the maturation of the reproductive organs, the development of secondary sexual characters, and accelerated growth in height. It takes several years, and each child has a different puberty.

Pubertal maturation consists of two processes, namely adrenarche (reappearance of adrenal androgen production in childhood) and gonadarche (pubertal reactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, or HPG, which regulates reproduction by controlling uterine and ovarian cycles).

Factors that influence adolescent mental health problems, namely hormonal changes. These hormones are estrogen (a hormone that plays an important role in the development and growth of female sexual characteristics and reproductive processes and is also found in men's bodies at lower levels), progesterone (a hormone that plays an important role in regulating ovulation and menstrual cycles, helps implant the prospective fetus in the uterus, and helps maintain pregnancy), and testosterone (an important hormone in men that helps the reproductive system, the formation of bone density, and muscle strength). Changes in social situations such as identity, close friends, family conflicts, peer rejection, authority conflicts, bullying, romantic relationships, and others Early puberty, where the average puberty is 11 years for girls and 12 years for boys, is considered early if the first menstruation occurs before 10 years and later after 15 years or occurs more than 3 years after thelarche (breast development). The causes of adolescent mental health are heavily influenced by genetics, nutrition, obesity, environmental stressors, and trauma. Brain development: where the average brain will not fully develop until the mid-20s, specifically in adolescents, the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain for executive functions: rational thinking, emotional control, and behavior) is not fully mature, making it difficult to regulate emotions and behavior. Physical developments such as body size, muscles, body shape, body hair, breasts, and acne.

Maintaining mental health during puberty is very important so that life can run normally, and this can be done by providing support to children so that they do not experience stress, taking time to discuss or cooperate with problems that occur, and being open to children sharing their feelings by telling stories.

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