Not yet an adult, but no longer a child - a teenager has to face new social roles and requirements. But the most difficult thing is that he has to face himself.
In adolescence, personality development enters into a very contradictory dichotomy: on the one hand, adolescents strive for individuality and separating their I from the crowd, and on the other, there is an irresistible need to belong to a group, to be part of something larger than just I. Each growing up child can cope with such a dilemma in completely different ways: from complete neglect of society, withdrawal into oneself to blind conformity to any group that is ready to accept it.
Self-esteem of adolescents undergoes significant changes. The task of this period is to collect all the parts of my self that have matured throughout my previous life (what kind of son / daughter, student, athlete, friend I am) and correlate with the assessment that society gives him. It becomes very important here to remain oneself and at the same time fit with one's identity into the requirements of a significant group. How easily and smoothly a teenager copes with this task will determine his self-awareness and self-esteem. Many adolescents who find it difficult to overcome the conflict dichotomy acutely feel their inability and alienation, which leads to an even greater development of fears inherent in this period.
Between the ages of eleven and sixteen, the most common fear is the fear of not being yourself, the inability to decide who I am and what I am a part of. Fear of being a "black sheep". In addition to psychological self-determination, fear of changing the body may arise: I am changing - what happens to me, will I not become ugly, will they love me like that?
Another important feature of the period from eleven to sixteen years is the fact that this is the age where the overcoming of all fears inherent in the previous life is "summed up". If at some age one or several fears were not worked out well enough, they become relevant again. It can be fear of the otherworldly, and fears of illness, attack, elements, fears of an answer at the blackboard. Even the fear of the "white coat" can come to the fore again. And now it will take much more time and effort to overcome them.
