For the adolescent, it's as if there is no future. What is happening now is what is and what will be forever. They have no sense that they are going through an emotional low, that it will pass. They can only learn this through experience, which they have not yet had the opportunity to gain. Knowing this helps parents understand when a teenager blows up over something that seems trivial, and then, an hour later acts as if nothing ever happened.
Events are vital at the moment they are occurring, but typically they soon pass and are forgotten.
One of the major roles for parents is to help their teenagers learn to tolerate anxiety. Parents often feel they should protect their children from anxiety. However, young people cannot develop any confidence unless they learn to tolerate anxiety, failure, fear, hurt and anger. Parents should communicate to their children that they, as adults, don't like certain feelings either, but they have learned to manage these feelings when they arise. If parents rush in and try to solve problems for their children, they can actually handicap them.