• What is Puberty?
Growing up is a constant process, as part of this process you will go through what we refer to as puberty.
Puberty is the time when your body starts to change from that of a child to that of an adult. Going from childhood to adulthood is not just a bodily process many other changes will accompany it.

Many changes occur during this time and hormones bring on these changes. Hormones are chemicals released by the brain, as the brain knows when the body is reaching sexual, physical and intellectual maturity. Different types of hormones are responsible for different changes occurring in you. The hormones that bring on the onset of puberty come from a gland near the brain called the pituitary gland. There are hormones that promote the production of other hormones called estrogen and progesterone in girls’ ovaries and in boys the hormone testosterone is produced in the testicles.

During this period growth hormones become active as well, these are responsible for the physical changes that occur in your body. Your body will grow taller you will gain weight
and your shape will change in a general way as well. It is important to know that not everybody experiences these changes at the same time; some people's ‘growth spurt’ might come earlier or later than others and might vary in degrees.

Other types of hormones that affect you during this period are those responsible for the emotional changes. These could generate feelings of confusion, sadness, mood swings and possibly a quick temper. You may experience varying positive or negative feelings and these too are provoked by hormonal changes. You might also feel more self-conscious and possibly socially isolated. It is important to understand that this is normal. These feelings may vary in severity between different people. The best way to deal with this is to talk to someone you trust, choose a family member you can communicate with. Your mother, your aunt, your father or an older sibling could be the best person to talk to, remember that your family is there to support you in all your needs. Communicating with people who care for you is very important, it can help clear much of the confusion you are feeling and can help you look at things from a different perspective.


• Emotional changes:
Puberty is not just about physical changes; emotional changes are a big part of this period and these two go together. You might be feeling more self-conscious about the physical changes you are going through. It is important to try not to compare your development with others your age as every person is a unique individual with special needs and problems and his/her development is specific to him/her.
As you are moving from being a young girl or young boy to becoming a woman or a man, your thinking is changing as well. Your relationships, interests, priorities and your world and the important people in it will change as well. This may sound easy but it is not always so. It is important to realize that you are not alone in this and it is not impossible for caring adults in your family to understand what you are going through.

Those crazy hormones are acting up again and they bring on these emotional changes again. Following are some of the emotional changes you might experience during this time:

- You may feel confused.
- You may develop very strong emotions.
- You may feel sad.
- You might have frequent mood changes.
- You might be over sensitive.
- You might get angry and lose your temper more easily.
- You might experience a sense of not belonging to your family, friends etc.
- You might experience problems at school.
- You may ask yourself is it normal to feel what you are feeling.

Yes it is normal to feel this way, you might experience some or most of these emotional symptoms. When matters become too hard to deal with on your own, you have to remember that there are many people who love and care for you no matter what you are going through. Try to approach a person in your family you trust and feel comfortable enough to address these issues with. You will notice how much better you will feel when you share the burden of these emotions with someone you trust. Remember that all adults have gone through this before even your parents.

• When does puberty happen?
Puberty is a process that does not follow a strict timeline and it affects each person according to his or her own internal calendar; although it generally starts earlier for girls than boys.
Puberty for girls can begin between ages nine and fourteen, for boys it will be between the ages of ten and seventeen. These age brackets are considered as the norm though anything happening slightly before or after this could still be considered normal. This development process can last from one year to as many as six years. For some it might be a rather quick process or an early one for some it might happen later and take longer.
In the following section we will talk about the physical changes that happen during puberty.