u/Xx_DarkSaber45_xX asked:
Teenagers of Reddit, What did you think was part of puberty but really something else?
Here were some answers.
It's Not Just A Mess Sometimes
When I was a teenager, I always thought that having resentment towards my mom (single parent) was normal for that phase in life. Everyone told me I was just an over-reactive teenager, going through changes, "hypersentitive" and it would pass and one day I'll realize how lucky I am to have her. While I agree, she was a good mom; I still harbor a lot of resentment toward her over a lot of things, and my family was extremely toxic and would consistently diminish my feelings to make themselves feel better.
It wasn't just a teenage mess of emotions; these were real problems that my mom couldn't be bothered with. It was more important for her to be the victim, and that hasn't changed still 20 years later. Most people are on the outside looking in, and don't hear both sides of the story. Sometimes the smallest thing can lead to a life of depression, anxiety and self-deprecating. In other words, you're not just 'finding yourself' as a teenager. Life comes with constant growth and realizations; don't ignore your instinct because everyone is telling you otherwise.
Still Unclear
When I was about 14 I started to hear a crazy amount of people yelling at me inside my head. I would just be sitting on my bed or something and it would absolutely overcome me. I heard my parents and siblings and friends all at the same time yell at me things I've actually heard the week before and then everything in real life would be moving super fast and there was no way I could trick my mind into moving slow. I would actually move slowly but it would make it worse and I would just have to lay there and nothing would help... I attribute it to panic attacks but no one has ever been able to help diagnose it.
Ain't Just The Hormones
Insanely heavy, painful period. Massive weight gain. Being uncontrollably mean to my mom and then crying because I didn't know why I was being mean to my mom. My "puberty" was so bad my mom took me to all kinds of doctors. She felt like I was possessed and also dying. I physically could not get out of bed on my period. Turns out I have PMDD, bipolar disorder and an under active thyroid. I went on birth control at 11 to control the bleeding and mood swings. Mood stabilizers around 13 and then thyroid meds at 15 and life was much better.
The Vibrance Goes Down
Losing the vividness and emotion of life. I thought society cherished and glorified childhood so much because everything feels so much more real and vivid back then. Turns out i just have a condition called derealisation lol
Some People Can't Handle The Truth
I get extremely bad pains in my legs - which was suspected to be growth pains.
Multiple doctor visits later, without my mother as she never believed me, and I was told I have very weak tissues in my legs that often tear or get inflammed, and had to start physio to try build them up more.
My mother still thinks I'm lying, even though I have been diagnosed by professionals. It hurts.
Being Isolated Forever
I was feeling a very large disconnect from everyone around me, especially people my age. I constantly visualized being in a bubble separate from everyone else, and I had a hard time having conversations. But I just thought it was puberty, because I didn't want to self diagnose, and I figured everyone else felt the same.
Turns out it was Aspergers.
Though Sometimes These Go Hand In Hand
Being always afraid is to talk to people, planning every word I will say to make sure I will not make any error, looking at every single detail of them to make sure I'm not saying anything wrong. Turns out I have social anxiety
'Twas The Cows
That was when my lactose sensitivity kicked in. Milk always made me feel a little ill as a child but I thought it was normal. Then I started getting really sick and my parents didn't believe me, so I spent several years being forced to drink milk every day and feeling really sick but thinking it was the price of growing up.
The Price Of Identity
The emergence of a deep seated anger towards my parents. Television and media showed me that conflicts between teen and parent was a normal part of growing up and my unidentifiable (at the time) anger was just raging hormones. It didn't help that my family would sigh at me citing my growing up as being the cause of the troubles. In some ways they were right.
Turns out I was just beginning to understand that my parents were controlling bullies and they felt threatened and wanted to knock me down harder the more I tried to have my own identity and boundaries. Teenagehood sucks for so many kids, they're just trying to figure life and themselves out and get stereotyped and invalidated by society at large just because of their age.
Just A Normal Virus
Hi! Mom here, not a teen. My pre-teen had the flu a month or so ago (time means nothing right now). He ran to the bathroom and got sick. I grabbed what I could to comfort him and when he was done he asked me "is this puberty?!" I assured him it was just the flu. Puberty would suck too, but not like this.
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