Changes in Adolescence Period of Life Span (Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay)

Changes in Adolescence Period of Life Span
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Changes in Adolescence Period of the Life Span
Introduction
Human life is made up of several stages that mark their development. The stages span from conception to the period that one can stay before death. While some people may die earlier than others, life span is concerned with the usual stages an individual goes through before death. Over the last 20 years, the record of maximum human lifespan stands at between 122 years and 164 days (Medford & Vaupel, 2019). These stages have been grouped depending on the age group that particular changes such as physical, psychosocial, and cognitive changes are experienced. The common classification of lifespan periods follows eight distinct stages, including prenatal (from conception to birth), infancy and toddlerhood (0-3years ), early childhood (6-11yeaes), adolescence (11-20 years ), young adulthood (20-40 years), middle adulthood (40-65 years), and lastly the late adulthood starting at 65years and above. This paper will focus on the physical, psychosocial, and cognitive changes associated with the adolescent group which begins at 11years to 20 years.
Physical Changes in Adolescence
When children reach the age of adolescence, several notable physical characteristics are seen. This depends on whether it’s a boy or a girl. This is because children are different and despite both genders having common changes, there are still notable differences based on gender and genetics. Some adolescents will show the changes early and others late but still within the same age group. Among girls, the first notable change is the development of breasts. This is one of the most common indicators of adolescence in girls. The breast may grow at different speeds thus making it notable the difference between the right and left breast which are also tender. The other notable change in girls is growing taller, broadening of face and hips. Sometimes girls tend to look out of proportion, which is temporal. The hair starts growing under the arms and on the genitals. Lastly, begin menstruating and start shedding the uterus lining and blood monthly though at times irregular (Stanford Children’s Health, 2020). This may have side-effects such as headaches and stomach cramps. Among boys, the external genitals such as penis, testes, and scrotum start to grow where one testis may appear to grow slower than the other making them of different sizes. Pubic hair starts to grow as well as on other body parts such as under the arms. Boys grow taller and broadening of their chest and shoulders. They break their voices and Adam's apple is more visible (Kanwar, 2020). Lastly, they start having erections and at times ejaculations especially at night, which is commonly known as a wet dream.
Psychosocial Changes in Adolescence
At the adolescence stage, several changes take place especially their physical changes as discussed above. These change...