Juliet - When you gonna realise, it was just that your brain was young?

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1.5

Romeo and Juliet - the classic tale of star-crossed lovers who, attempting to escape their feuding families and live in love forever, tragically kill themselves, uniting those left behind. Either that, or a tale of a teenage boy and a 13 year old girl who over the course of 5 days (in Shakespeare's telling) becoming so enamoured of each other they lose the ability to think rationally, make less than effective (also known as poor) decisions and pay the ultimate price. Were Dire Straits wrong? Was it less about timing and more about emotions? Modern research tends to suggest a mix of both.

Adolescence begins with the hormonal surge of puberty (or gonadarche) and related changes in stress hormones (adrenarche). It is these changes that most people attribute the emotional turmoil of adolescents to. "Teenagers are ruled by their hormones". There are also changes in the brain structure and brain chemistry. Serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) generally associated with happiness, decreases in certain areas of the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter related to attention, learning and reward. Systems related to dopamine (dopaminergic systems) increase their activity. This can cause differing effects on mood. For example, the combination of reduced serotonin and increased dopamine can mean that some adolescents receive a greatly reduced sense of satisfaction from those things that once made them happy. Other neurotransmitters, such as GABA, glutamate and endogenous cannabinoids also experience changes.

That's not all that happens. The brain continues making changes, growing new connections, decreasing unused circuits and adding myelin to the neurons (a type of insulation that improves the communication of neurons. During this process, there is a period in which the balance between the prefrontal cortex and limbic system favours the latter. The prefrontal cortex is involved in impulse control, rationale decision making and emotional regulation. The limbic system is involved in emotion and reward based behaviour. What that means is that in the face of strong emotions, the smartest and brightest adolescent may well find themselves following their heart instead of their head.

So how does this apply to our star crossed lovers? Firstly, intensity of emotional feeling is common for adolescents. These strong emotions are easy to see in Shakespeare's beautiful telling of this story. Secondly, the ability to make rational decisions, particularly in the heat of strong emotions, is reduced. So the romantic in me likes to phrase it this way - they really did feel so strongly for each other that they had to be together, they just couldn't think of a safe way to do it when faced with the challenge of feuding families.

The story of Romeo and Juliet has been around now for centuries in one form or another, and is the perfect example of how adolescents differ from adults and children. It is also one of the few forms in which adults can connect with this intensity of feeling. So how do we manage this emotional change? Nutrition plays a very important role in brain development. As hard as it can be to get teens to eat effectively, it is vital that the growing brain gets all the nutrients to build itself effectively.

At the end of the day, every adolescent needs patience and love. Oh, and the whole family could do with some great tunes.

Dire Straits (and VERY 80's video) for mum and dad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxfjSnMN88U

or a 2007 remake by The Killers for the teens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87cLyBR1JTo&feature=related

"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 5.3