Puberty and its physical and emotional changes
Puberty and its physical and emotional changes
Puberty is the period of life of transition between childhood and adulthood, which occurs between 8 and 15 years in girls or people with vulva and between 10 and 17 in boys or people with penis, approximately. It is a period in which many physical as well as psychoemotional and social changes are experienced.
Some of the general physical changes that may be experienced are:
- Height and weight gain.
- Hair growth (armpits, legs, pubic hair, face, etc.) This depends very much on the individual.
- Increased sweating
- Oily skin and hair
- Possibility of acne (pimples on the face, neck, back and other parts of the body).
- Increased hormone production
- Voice changes
These would be some of the physical changes at the level of secondary feminine characteristics:
- Breast growth
- Widening of the hips
- Increased fatty tissue in various parts of the body
- Vulva thickens and darkens
- Appearance of vaginal discharge
- Menarche and onset of the menstrual cycle.
And these are some of the physical changes at the level of secondary male characteristics:
- Appearance of facial hair (mustache and beard).
- Change in the voice, it becomes deeper.
- Widening of shoulders and back.
- Testicles and penis grow.
- Spermia and first ejaculations
- At the psychoemotional and social level, changes such as the following occur:
- Frequent mood swings.
- Feelings of misunderstanding
- Feelings of ambivalence towards family and friends (love-hate, independence-dependence, etc.).
- Increased desire for independence
- Desire for intimacy and privacy
- Rebelliousness
- Need to belong to a social group
- Development of one’s own opinion and critical spirit
- Search for and/or reaffirmation of one’s gender identity and/or sexual orientation
- Concern about body changes
- Changes in self-esteem
- Appearance of erotic and/or romantic desire towards other people and the possibility of initiating relationships on these levels.
- Development of autoeroticism (masturbation) in private settings
- Assumption of greater responsibilities
