Another myth Dr. Jensen put to test is how teenagers are able to recover from a bad experience – what we call being resilient. At times, she says, the teenage brain is resilient. But in other ways it is not. Things like stress and drug and alcohol use can give teens long-term problems.
"And we always thought that, 'Oh they are so resilient.' Well, they are and they aren’t. You know, there are certain things that can affect them life-long. The same amount of experience like stress or alcohol or pot, an adult may sail through it - for the same exposure - but a teenager will bear a long-term problem based on that.”