Psychological changes during puberty?

So, I'm 15 and a half, currently a freshman in high school. Around the start of summer, I noticed my memory was getting really bad—and my concentration too. As time went on, I started obsessing over it more and more. I’d try to memorize all these random, unimportant things just to prove to myself that everything was fine, but when I couldn't, I’d go looking for reasons why. It kind of spiraled into me overanalyzing every single thing I do, every move I make, and everything happening around me. I spent way too much time Googling stuff, and honestly, seeing all those explanations—ranging from just being stressed out to extreme stuff like mental illnesses—just made me feel way more overwhelmed. A few months ago, I decided I needed to check if I was actually okay or if this was somehow tied to my intelligence. I went through the whole process: I had a CT scan and an MRI of my brain, and the results were totally clear. I also took some intelligence and IQ tests; my IQ was somewhere around 130 or 135, I don't remember exactly (is that even a normal score?), and regarding the general intelligence test, I mostly just realized I have decent motor skills and stuff like that... I guess that gave me a little peace of mind that physically I'm fine, but even though I've pushed aside the idea that I have a serious mental illness, my overthinking is just getting worse and worse. For example, if someone asks me a question and I give an automatic "yes" or "no," I'll end up ruminating later about how I answered without thinking—even if my answer would have been the same if I *had* thought about it. Or, like, why do I think the way I think? Or when I'm just relaxing and watching TV, not thinking about anything at all, and suddenly I start overanalyzing, and then I wonder how I can even remember what happened in the movie if I wasn't consciously focusing on it while I was watching. All of this is starting to mess with my schoolwork because while I'm studying, I'm too busy thinking about *how* to remember, and my grades have absolutely tanked. So, I guess I'm wondering: is this just a normal phase of growing up, or am I crossing a line into something more extreme? Should I be doing something specific about this? I'm not sure if it matters, but I hit puberty pretty early. I've always felt a bit more mature than most kids my age; I was already hitting growth spurts in 4th grade, and by 6th grade, I was already fully hairy and had started shaving. Thanks 🙂

Honestly, reading or watching TV while your mind is wandering like that sounds a lot like depersonalization to me—that weird feeling where you’re basically living two lives at once. The way you described it... yeah, that's exactly how my episodes feel.

I’d say it might just be part of growing up. I was a total mess during my teenage years, too. I can't even tell if I misread things back then or just handled stuff the wrong way and ended up making life harder for myself later on. Like, would everything be smoother now if I’d just realized I was struggling mentally and hit up a therapist sooner? 🤷

It seems fine to me, really, but if it's actually eating at you, maybe ask someone about getting some psychological testing done.

Just curious, does anyone in your family deal with mental health stuff? 🙂

Douglas Hernandez63 said:So, I'm 15 and a half, currently a freshman in high school. Around the start of summer, I noticed my memory was getting really bad—and my concentration too. As time went on, I started obsessing over it more and more. I’d try to memorize all these random, unimportant things just to prove to myself that everything was fine, but when I couldn't, I’d go looking for reasons why. It kind of spiraled into me overanalyzing every single thing I do, every move I make, and everything happening around me. I spent way too much time Googling stuff, and honestly, seeing all those explanations—ranging from just being stressed out to extreme stuff like mental illnesses—just made me feel way more overwhelmed. A few months ago, I decided I needed to check if I was actually okay or if this was somehow tied to my intelligence. I went through the whole process: I had a CT scan and an MRI of my brain, and the results were totally clear. I also took some intelligence and IQ tests; my IQ was somewhere around 130 or 135, I don't remember exactly (is that even a normal score?), and regarding the general intelligence test, I mostly just realized I have decent motor skills and stuff like that... I guess that gave me a little peace of mind that physically I'm fine, but even though I've pushed aside the idea that I have a serious mental illness, my overthinking is just getting worse and worse. For example, if someone asks me a question and I give an automatic "yes" or "no," I'll end up ruminating later about how I answered without thinking—even if my answer would have been the same if I *had* thought about it. Or, like, why do I think the way I think? Or when I'm just relaxing and watching TV, not thinking about anything at all, and suddenly I start overanalyzing, and then I wonder how I can even remember what happened in the movie if I wasn't consciously focusing on it while I was watching. All of this is starting to mess with my schoolwork because while I'm studying, I'm too busy thinking about *how* to remember, and my grades have absolutely tanked. So, I guess I'm wondering: is this just a normal phase of growing up, or am I crossing a line into something more extreme? Should I be doing something specific about this? I'm not sure if it matters, but I hit puberty pretty early. I've always felt a bit more mature than most kids my age; I was already hitting growth spurts in 4th grade, and by 6th grade, I was already fully hairy and had started shaving. Thanks 🙂

Maybe try finding a girlfriend soon; you might stop overthinking everything and focus less on yourself.
It’s very likely you're just dealing with a testosterone surge you aren't quite prepared for yet, so it's showing up as these weird mental fog moments.
A lot of guys go through this. Instead of chalking it up to hormones, maybe try channeling that energy into philosophy, deep analysis, or just staying curious about things.
Or hey, maybe I'm totally off base.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts🙂

To be honest, there’s absolutely no history of mental health issues in my family, so I don't really have a baseline for this

I am in a relationship, but... well, dating can be its own special kind of headache sometimes, if you know what I mean😁