Gelisim News

Expressing that although adolescence seems to be between the ages of 12 and 18 or 10 and 21, there are also emerging concepts of adulthood and late adolescence, Demirkaya said: “This age extends to 30, and the psychological adolescence process is lifelong in some people regardless of the chronological age. As adults continue to 'act like adolescents' and live in 'personal fables' that are far from the reality of the world, this outbreak will be very difficult to control.”

Demirkaya continued her speech as follows: 

 

“Even though we have forbidden to go out to the adolescents on paper under the age of 20, there are individuals over the age of 20 who still remain acting like adolescents and are free to go out in the streets even though there is no obligation to work, even though the authorities and scientists say ‘stay at home’. Unfortunately, these individuals also play an active role in the spread of the outbreak and harm public health in general."

Stating that the concept known as ‘adolescent egocentrism’ was first described by Child Psychologist David Elkind, Psychiatrist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sevcan Karakoç Demirkaya from Istanbul Gelisim University continued her speech as follows:

 

“This is more comprehensive than selfishness, and it means that it is the thought that they are unique and special, therefore the rules that apply in the world are not valid for them. The harmful part of this thought is that it creates an illusion of perception and after a while the person evaluates everything according to her/his own situation. This is also called 'personal fable'. While this process is overcome with the formation of a healthy identity during adolescence, some people think this lifetime and start living according to their own fables. They put themselves into the center and things become important only if they relate to them.”

Stating that the people with the age range emphasized that there is little risk for them are based on ‘adolescent egocentrism’ and they continue to go out onto the streets without a necessity, Demirkaya said: “They ignore the risks of getting sick and feel that their resilience is valid for all age groups. Another 'acting like adolescent' is 'taking risks'. Alcohol or drug use, opposition to authority and accident-related death are more often in adolescence due to their curiosity and that they cannot predict danger. This is because adolescents' developing brains control system is not fully matured, so 'innovation-seeking behaviors' and ‘inability to predict losses’ are more. Adults acting as adolescents also think about themselves as ‘not getting injured’ ‘cannot getting injured’ or 'invulnerable', and continue their relations with the environment through these kinds of thoughts. In their personal fables, the thoughts of not getting injured are notable.”