Introduction
Adolescence is a crucial stage (ages ten to 19) marked by rapid physical, emotional, and social changes. During this vulnerable time, factors like poverty, abuse, or violence can increase the risk of mental health problems in young people. Investing in the well-being of adolescents is essential. This means protecting them from negative experiences, fostering social and emotional skills, and ensuring access to mental health care. Unfortunately, a significant number of adolescents (around 14 percent) experience mental health issues globally, yet these often go undiagnosed and untreated. This can lead to further challenges like social isolation, discrimination, and difficulties in school. Additionally, it can increase the risk of risky behavior and physical health problems.
What Are the Factors That Determine Mental Health?
During adolescence, it is important to develop good habits for feeling happy and healthy. This means getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, learning how to deal with problems, and understanding one’s feelings. Having supportive people around, like family and friends, can also make a big difference.
There are lots of things that can affect how someone feels during adolescence. The more difficult things someone goes through, the harder it can be for them to feel good. Stressful things like tough experiences, trying to fit in with friends, and figuring out who one is can make it tough. Sometimes, what a person sees in the media or what society expects from that person can make it harder to feel good about oneself.
Other important things that can affect how someone feels include how things are at home and how they get along with their friends. Things like violence, strict parents, and not having enough money can also make it harder for someone to feel good.
Some people are more likely to have problems with their mental health during adolescence because of where they live, how others treat them, or not having enough help when they need it. This includes things like living where there is a lot of fighting, being sick, or not having many friends. It also includes things like being pregnant, having a baby when one is young, or being in a marriage one did not choose. People from minority groups, like different races or sexual orientations, might also have a harder time feeling good because of how others treat them.
What Are the Common Disorders Among Adolescents?
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Emotional Disorders: Many teenagers experience emotional struggles. Anxiety, which involves excessive worry or panic, is most common among older adolescents. About 3.6 percent of ten to 14-year-olds and 4.6 percent of 15 to 19-year-olds have anxiety disorders. Depression affects about 1.1 percent of ten to 14-year-olds and 2.8 percent of 15 to 19-year-olds. Depression and anxiety can show similar symptoms, like sudden mood changes. These disorders can impact school attendance and performance. Withdrawal from social activities can worsen feelings of loneliness. Depression can even lead to thoughts of suicide.
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Behavioral Disorders: Behavioral disorders are more frequent in younger adolescents than older ones. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), marked by difficulty in paying attention, hyperactivity, and impulsive actions, affects 3.1 percent of ten to 14-year-olds and 2.4 percent of 15 to 19-year-olds. Conduct disorder, which includes destructive or challenging behaviors, occurs in 3.6 percent of ten to 14-year-olds and 2.4 percent of 15 to 19-year-olds. These disorders can impact education, and conduct disorder may lead to criminal behavior.
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Eating Disorders: Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa often start during the teenage years and early adulthood. These disorders involve abnormal eating habits and a preoccupation with food, usually accompanied by concerns about body weight and shape. Anorexia nervosa can cause premature death due to medical complications or suicide and has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder.
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Psychosis: Psychotic conditions, which often start in late adolescence or early adulthood, include symptoms like hallucinations or delusions. These symptoms can hinder daily functioning and education and often lead to stigma and human rights issues.
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Suicide and Self-Harm: Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among older adolescents (15 to 19 years). Risk factors include alcohol abuse, childhood abuse, stigma against seeking help, barriers to care, and access to means of suicide. Digital media can influence suicide prevention efforts either positively or negatively.
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Risk-Taking Behaviors: Risky behaviors such as substance use and sexual activity often begin in adolescence. These behaviors can be harmful ways to cope with emotional issues and can greatly affect mental and physical health. In 2016, 13.6 percent of adolescents aged 15 to 19 engaged in heavy episodic drinking, with males being at higher risk. Tobacco and cannabis use are also concerns, with many adult smokers started before age 18 and 4.7 percent of 15 to 16-year-olds using cannabis at least once in 2018. Violent behavior is another risky activity, leading to poor educational outcomes, injury, criminal involvement, or death. Interpersonal violence was a leading cause of death among older adolescent boys in 2019.
How Does Public Health Promote Mental Health Awareness?
Mental health promotion aims to boost protective factors and healthy behaviors to prevent mental disorders and reduce risk factors that may lead to them. This involves creating environments that support mental health and enable people to maintain healthy lifestyles. Ensuring basic civil, political, socio-economic, and cultural rights is essential for effective mental health promotion. Without these rights, it is difficult to maintain good mental health.
Specifically, mental health can be promoted through:
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Early childhood interventions (for example, home visits for pregnant women, preschool psychosocial activities).
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Support for children (for example, skills-building programs, child and youth development programs).
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Programs for vulnerable groups, including minorities, indigenous people, migrants, and those affected by conflicts and disasters (for example, psychosocial interventions after disasters).
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Mental health activities in schools (for example, programs supporting ecological changes in schools and child-friendly schools).
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Violence prevention programs.
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Community development programs.
Positive youth development, according to the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is a deliberate and supportive method that:
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Engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families productively and constructively.
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Acknowledges, leverages, and builds on youths' strengths.
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Encourages positive outcomes for young people by creating opportunities, nurturing positive relationships, and providing the support needed to develop their leadership skills.
This approach focuses on promoting youth mental health by emphasizing protective factors in their environment and how these factors help them overcome adversity. Learn more about positive youth development.
What Is the WHO Response to Tackle Mental Health Among Adolescents?
The World Health Organization (WHO) creates strategies, programs, and tools to help governments address the health needs of adolescents.
For example, the Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) Initiative, a joint effort between WHO and UNICEF, aims to strengthen policies and programs for adolescent mental health. This initiative promotes mental well-being, prevents mental health conditions, and reduces self-harm and other risky behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse, which negatively impact both mental and physical health.
WHO has also developed a module on Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioural Disorders as part of the mhGAP Intervention Guide 2.0. This guide provides evidence-based clinical protocols for assessing and managing mental health conditions in general healthcare settings.
Additionally, WHO is developing and testing scalable psychological interventions for adolescent emotional disorders and providing guidance on mental health services for adolescents.
The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has created a mental health training package for educators. This package helps educators understand the importance of mental health in schools and guides them in implementing strategies to promote, protect, and restore mental health among students. It includes training manuals and materials to expand the number of schools promoting mental health.
Conclusion
Addressing adolescent mental health through public health initiatives is crucial due to the significant impact of this developmental stage on lifelong well-being. Effective strategies include early childhood interventions, support programs for children and vulnerable groups, school mental health activities, and community development initiatives. Organizations like the WHO are actively involved in creating and implementing programs to promote mental well-being, prevent mental health conditions, and reduce risky behaviors among adolescents. These efforts foster resilience, support positive development, and ensure access to necessary mental health care.
