#506: Big Deal

To him, it is a big deal. When your teenage son faces rejection or embarrassment, your first instinct may be to say, “Son, in the scheme of things, this is not a big deal.” But that might not be the best approach. Through MRI scans of teenage brains, psychologists have actually found that a teen’s amygdala– the part of the brain that senses negative emotions– is much more reactive than a child’s brain or an adult’s brain. So instead of telling your son to stop worrying, empathize. Recal...