Vulnerability

"Sometimes, I wonder why I have become so vulnerable. Is it because of him?..Maybe it is.Small things did not affect me before, even when it did,I never felt it to be necessary to share with someone .Emotions have become my weakness.Instead of growing up, I am stuck in this phase of constant emotional upheaval where the smallest of taunts from people upset me.

The pieces were falling bit by bit and I didn't even notice.Now it is too late to do anything except lament over it.There was a time when I could pretend with ease the fact that nothing affects me..Well, when he arrived I was finally able to admit to someone that his practicality affected me since I was idealistically inclined towards Utopian concepts..
         Gradually, I started to admit to him how almost everything affected me.

I cried.. I moaned...I shouted! He handled it well..but for how long?? The smallest of snide comments upset me and I blabber that to him..How and when did the strong walls that I had built around myself shatter? Emotionally, I have become a vulnerable lunatic, depended on "sweet" words for happiness.
            It's time to pull myself together. I've to try! Loving him, I have learnt practicality..'learnt' won't be appropriate.. How about 'learning'? It's time to pick up the crumbling remains and build those walls again..to control these topsy-turvy emotions..to stop being so vulnerable..to be as strong as I was before..otherwise, he'll eventually get tired and exhausted and irritated of my very presence. He'll get tired of loving me!

Maybe that is why, I feel that if I am not constantly in touch with him, he'll probably disappear like a very good dream disappears when you wake up, leaving you with that "too good to be true" feeling...

           Yes, he is that dream"..

-Sneha Mathur, Age: 16

During Adolescence, the stage of development which Psychologists often term as the 'GANG AGE', the teen brain does go through dramatic changes. Teen-hood is the very time when the acts made by youngsters are too juvenile to consider sincerely. This however, leads to emotional turmoils, gives rise to dilemmas, bipolar behaviour, mood oscillations....Ah well..so much more!

Why is the Teen Brain so Vulnerable?

During early and mid-adolescence, the teen brain undergoes a rough time. Consistent Neural Growth and synaptic pruning changes the connectivity in subtle regions of brain. Also, the 'Prefrontal Cortex', which is the seat of 'Executive Functions' remain pliable in adolescence. Hence, the brain struggles a Transitional Switch.

Few Statistics are of the opinion that human brain does not fully mature until about the age of 25. As a result of which, youngsters grow malleable. They mess their room bad, laugh uncontrollably at times, cut wrists because of silly reasons like Break-ups and flunking in exams, and get along somehow. Nevertheless, mostly daydream!

So, Hey! Teenagers out there! Do not worry! You haven't grown up yet. It's just the fact that 'Teenage' is the age when you cross the big seas, fight the storms and beat the devil down. You are susceptible to stress. I know you stealthily grab pack of smoke from the Grocer's shop. I know you wet your blankets howling. But it's okay! Once you get to know you are getting deviated from the path you should have traversed, take deep breaths, sob out your troubles with your mate, start from the scratch and move.

That's how we grow up kid!  

About the Author:

 Barsha Bhattacharya is a First Year English Honours student at Loreto College, Kolkata. A bibliophile, Barsha cultivates a passion in her for writing pieces.