It’s normal for adolescents to feel irritable, grumpy, and moody and to want more independence from their parents and other supportive adults.1 They also tend to want to figure things out for themselves and will frequently seek out their peers for advice and support.
Mood swings can be a frequent occurrence in the teen years. They may seem happy one minute but then inexplicably irritable and angry the next. Adolescents may also express rebellious and even defiant behavior, regardless of whether they had always been compliant leading up to this.
However, while a certain level of anger is expected in teens, some anger issues in adolescence indicate a need for more intensive intervention. Warning signs of anger-related disorders in teens include:
- Physical violence,
such as hitting parents, punching siblings, or getting into fights at school.
- Verbal abusiveness, such as yelling at parents, insulting siblings, or lashing out at peers in school.
- Destructiveness, like punching walls or destroying physical property.
- Oppositional behaviors, like ignoring rules, not respecting boundaries, or refusing to comply with consequences.
If you’re concerned about intensive anger-related behaviors in your teen, it’s important to seek
professional help.
