Importance of mental health in TEENAGERS
What is mental health?
Mental health is emotional, social and psychological well-being.
We, humans, tend to believe that we can achieve 100% of the well-being of our mental health but we cannot because no one is fully happy or satisfied. And in today’s world, especially in countries like India, mental health is not given due importance why because here the people think that if anyone needs help from a psychologist or psychiatrist he or she is mentally ill but we tend to forget that not only they need mental wellbeing but we all need it because mental health includes symptoms like stress, anxiety, depression etc and this can happen to anyone but what we are seeing today is that these symptoms are very common in TEENAGERS.
The importance of mental health in teenagers is a very important and crucial subject of discussion. Mental well-being is a very essential part of adolescents, as it helps them build positive, social, emotional and communication skills and many factors affect mental health in teenagers. Factors that are most effective in contributing to stress and depression in teenage lives are:
- Peer pressure
- Social media influences now days
- Gender norms
- Atmosphere at home
- Sexual violence and bullying
- Harsh parenting
The above factors mostly determine the whole Adolescent period.
Now let’s talk about the above factors in detail.
TO KEEP UP WITH PEERS
We all know that peer pressure in today’s world is the most affecting factor in anyone’s life, and this factor is at par with Adolescents. Having said that, let’s talk about the two types of peer pressure i.e
- Negative peer pressure
- Positive peer pressure
Negative peer pressure can lead them to make very bad decisions in life such as engaging in alcohol, doing illegal activities like drugs, gambling etc.
“A teenager’s brain is only about 80 per cent developed,” says Gurinder Dabhia, MD, a paediatrician at Scripps Clinic Rancho Bernardo. “Teens have extra unconnected synapses in the area where risk assessment occurs, and this gets in the way of judgment. In addition, the prefrontal cortex is underdeveloped, which makes teens more sensitive to peer pressure and risky, impulsive behaviour.”
Whereas positive peer pressure can help teenagers in developing skills which are very important for adulthood. It mainly encourages them to make good decisions and not to involve in harmful activities such as the above.
All in all, we can say that peer pressure is a very complex area because the teens feel that they have grown and they are adults but their minds are still developing or are not fully developed.
Effects of social media on teenagers
The world has become so small because of social media and it has become the way of living in today’s world. Everyone is on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc and so are the teenagers. Studies have shown that social media has increased the percentage of depression amongst teenagers, especially among girls.
Some proven facts are that among the 14-17 years teenagers who use social media 5-7 hours a day, are diagnosed with depression and are treated by the mental health professionals as compared to the children who engage in physical activities like sports board games indoor games etc are less likely to suffer from these mental health issues.
The three main factors that are the result of using social media excessively are:
- Lack of physical activity
- Inadequate sleep cycles
- More prone to internet bullying
So we can say that social media has its pros and cons at the same time.
Gender norms
Gender identity is the feeling of a person’s sense of who they are male-female or both. When a teen is unhappy or is uncomfortable with his or her sex then this situation is called gender dysphoria.
When a child identifies his or her gender than its fine but when they are unable to identify their gender then they come under gender diverse category which includes 4types of classification:
- Transgender (when the gender identity doesn’t match with the sex given at birth)
- Non-binary (when gender identity is neither male nor female, it’s just a blend of both male and female)
- Gender fluids (when the child moves or is confused between gender identities)
- A gender ( when the child does not confer with any gender)
So in short it is very important to help a child to identify his or her identity because this can lead to depression and anxiety.
The home atmosphere and harsh parenting
The home atmosphere is very important because that will influence the mindset of children in many ways. Studies have shown that when parents are very harsh with them at the age of 13-17 this can lead them to turn to their peers negatively.
Parents can determine the behaviour of their children in many ways. It is said that the children who are harshly parented are likely to have a lower educational rate.
Harsh parenting also influences the children in adulthood because they tend to achieve more verbal and physical aggression in personal life or with their partners. The current studies have examined the direct relationship between harsh parenting and a rise in anxiety levels among teenagers. If we are to maintain the mental well-being of teenagers, the parents should seek a balance between their relationship with their children’s lives and their own.
Sexual violence and bullying
Bullying is when someone is picked at by one group or person in particular without any rhyme or reason.
Bullying has different types:
- Physical bullying
- Psychological bullying
- Verbal bullying
Bullying cannot be justified whatever may be the case.
Effects of bullying:
- Feeling stressed, anxious, depressed and afraid
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Having trouble with studies
- Having problems with appetite, mood swings, sleep cycles etc
These things can be prevented if the parents, guardians or teachers pay attention to the kids.
That all being said above, we being a mental health issues related website, hope for the best for the children of our society because they are the rising sun and stars of the future and we as a society together should take care of their mental wellbeing and if they cry for help or if they do not we should take care of them and should cater to their needs.