Rev. Fr. C. Joseph
Counsellor-St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama
Adolescents are undergoing a crucial stage of development with regard to their psychological, social and emotional well being. These developments have a profound effect on their mental health. The suddenness and the rapid pace with which these changes generate a number of problems and special needs, which adolescents find difficult to understand on their own. Most of them become intensely concerned about their physical appearance and increasingly self-conscious, and anything that makes them different from others generally upsets them. They need proper care and attention from parents, teachers and their peers.
Adolescence is a transitional period in which there are changes in the body, thinking process and social life of the adolescents and yet there is a silent cry of the adolescents for ‘independent identity’ to grow as unique individuals. Adolescence is a time of change, exploration, exuberance and youthful searching characterized by a number of cognitive, emotional, physical and social changes. These very ‘changes’ become a real problem for the adolescents and to their parents and in a larger context they become the real adolescence challenges.
Adolescence is a time when conflict with parents is especially high. The conflict between parents and adolescents is more likely when they are experiencing depressed mood and also other problems such as substance abuse or dating. The adolescents during the early 20’s are the years of the highest prevalence of a variety of types of risk behaviours. Substance abuse, risky automobile driving, risky sexual behaviour and contracting sexually transmitted diseases are some of the examples. Stress and depression are also serious problems for adolescents. Stress is characterized by feelings of tension, frustration, worry, sadness and withdrawal that commonly last from a few hours to a few days.
Today, adolescents in general, are experiencing many physical, emotional, cultural and social shocks. They live in a polluted environment. The traditional culture and its values are being substituted by new dangerous modern cultures such as Drug culture, Alcohol culture, Mobile culture, Facebook culture, Pornography culture, Tobacco culture, Internet culture, Gun culture, Easy money culture, Pleasure-loving and easy going culture. The very advancement of science and technology is being made use of for adverse purposes. Thus, adolescents are always in constant pressure, stress, tension and depression. It is in this milieu that the parents, teachers, elders and counsellors have a great role to play in helping the adolescents to pass through the adolescence stage of “storm and stress” in an unstrained manner and to equip them with sound knowledge and skills to live a happy and meaningful environment life. The greatest challenge of our time will be to create a healthy where adolescents grow gracefully without any fear, with a positive outlook and learn to live an uncompromised life.
Adolescence and the early years of adulthood are a time of life when many changes occur, for example changing schools, leaving home, and starting university or a new job. For many, these are exciting times. They can also be times of stress and apprehension, however. In some cases, if not recognized and managed, these feelings can lead to mental illness. The expanding use of online technologies, while undoubtedly bringing many benefits, can also bring additional pressures, as connectivity to virtual networks at any time of the day and night grows. Many adolescents are also living in areas affected by humanitarian emergencies such as conflicts, natural disasters and epidemics. Young people living in situations such as these are particularly vulnerable to mental distress and illness.
Half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated. In terms of the burden of the disease among adolescents, depression is the third leading cause. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs among adolescents is a major issue in many countries and can lead to risky behaviours such as unsafe sex or dangerous driving. Eating disorders are also of concern.
Fortunately, there is a growing recognition of the importance of helping young people build mental resilience, from the earliest ages, in order to cope with the challenges of today’s world. The evidence is growing that promoting and protecting adolescent health brings benefits not just to adolescents’ health, both in the short - and the long-term, but also to economies and society, with healthy young adults able to make greater contributions to the workforce, their families and communities and society as a whole.
Much can be done to help build mental resilience from an early age to help prevent mental distress and illness among adolescents and young adults and to manage and recover from mental illness. Prevention begins with being aware of and understanding the early warning signs and symptoms of mental illness. Parents and teachers can help build life skills of children and adolescents to help them cope with everyday challenges at home and at school. Psychosocial support can be provided in schools and other community settings and of course training for health workers to enable them to detect and manage mental health disorders can be put in place, improved or expanded.
Conclusion: Investment by governments and the involvement of the social, health and education sectors in comprehensive, integrated, evidence-based programmes for the mental health of young people is essential. This investment should be linked to programmes to raise awareness among adolescents and young adults of ways to look after their mental health and to help peers, parents and teachers know how to support their friends, children and students.
“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.’’
