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Neuroscientist Estanislao Bachrach: “Frustration Is Normal. The Key Is Being Able to Talk About It and Seek Help”

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Estanislao Bachrach said frustration forms a normal part of human experience and that adolescents should learn to express it and seek help.
  • He argued that families should offer a nonjudgmental environment where young people can talk through difficult emotions.
  • Bachrach also discussed chronic pain, meditation and breathing practices, saying they can affect attention and the structure and function of some brain areas.

“Frustration is normal. The key is being able to talk about it and seek help.” For neuroscientist Estanislao Bachrach, that lesson sits at the center of the challenges facing parents of adolescents.

Frustration is normal. The key is being able to talk about it and seek help. It is also good for them to see that this whole world of emotions is normal, not a negative world, although it can sometimes be unpleasant; and to understand that in life you do not get everything you want whenever you want it.

· Estanislao BachrachBachrach explained why adolescents should learn to recognize and discuss frustration.

In a recent interview with LA NACION, the molecular biologist said emotions should not simply be labeled positive or negative. Some are unpleasant, he explained, but they remain part of ordinary human experience. Learning to manage them requires consistency and effort, qualities he believes are increasingly scarce in adult life.

Bachrach said teenagers need to understand that life does not provide everything they want whenever they want it. The family should be a place where frustration can be expressed and worked through. “Being able to talk about it, because they know their father or mother will not judge them, creates another conversation and makes it possible to work through frustration,” he said.

Teenagers need to understand that in life you do not get everything you want whenever you want it.

· Estanislao BachrachHe described delayed gratification as a basic lesson for adolescents.

He also reflected on his own path from academic molecular biology toward an approach incorporating meditation and breathing. The shift began during quarantine, when he started investigating the relationship between body and mind. Speaking about chronic pain, he described an important distinction: “I began to realize, with the help of a cognitive behavioral therapist, that in addition to hurting a lot, I was suffering a lot.”

Being able to talk about it, because they know their father or mother will not judge them, creates another conversation and makes it possible to work through frustration.

· Estanislao BachrachHe stressed the importance of a supportive family setting.

Bachrach said meditation and changes in breathing patterns have strong scientific support for improving general well-being. Over time, he said, they can modify the structure and sometimes the function of certain brain areas, especially attention, because meditation involves bringing attention to one place.

I began to realize, with the help of a cognitive behavioral therapist, that in addition to hurting a lot, I was suffering a lot.

· Estanislao BachrachBachrach described how therapy changed his understanding of chronic pain.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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