What is Teenage Mental Health?
Teenage Mental Health is a state of well-being in which teenagers realize their abilities, can cope with the ordinary stresses of life, work productively, and contribute to their community.
Teenage Mental Health is the state of developing social and emotional habits vital for mental well-being. These can only come when a teenager adopts a healthy lifestyle.
Also, protective and supportive environments in the family, school, and community enhance a healthy lifestyle.
Physical well-being is essential for mental well-being.
Hence, encourage teenagers to be physically active, eat healthily, sleep well, and avoid alcohol and other drugs.
Signs that your Teenager has a Mental Health illness
- When your teen feels reluctant to socialize.
- Changes in eating habits; loss of appetite or too much eating.
- Increased feelings of worry, panic, sadness, or hopelessness.
- There is a rapid mood swing
- Loss of interest in activities that used to be of interest to them.
- Frequent disobedience to instructions.
- When your teen always wants to be alone.
- Changes in academic performance.
- When your teenager is having Suicidal thoughts.
- Hostile behavior
- Frequent weakness or fatigue.
5 Factors that Cause Teenage Mental Health illness
A Lot of factors contribute to mental health issues or illnesses in teenagers.
Environmental Factor
Teenage Mental Health can be affected by the environment in which teenagers find themselves. Growing up, teenagers find themselves in an environment that impacts their well-being.
Physical environmental factors have an effect on teenagers from childhood.
Characteristics of environment that affect teens’ well-being include;
- Living in a noisy area
- Lack of access to proper health care
- Lack of sleep
- Abusive home
- Loss of parent(s), siblings, friend, or anyone.
As a result of the impact of these on teenagers, they lack the resources to manage challenges.
Hence, giving rise to mental illness among teenagers.
Neglect and Deprivation
Teen neglect happens when parents fail to attend to a teenager’s needs. This may also affect Teenage Mental Health.
There are two forms of neglect;
Emotional Neglects
Physical Neglects
- Emotional Neglects:
Emotional neglect occurs when parents and caregivers do not support teens emotionally. They tend to be careless about how their teenagers feel.
Some parents brush off their teens’ complaints about friends or abstract issues.
Anxiety creeps in when teenagers experience emotional neglect. Similarly, there is a show of low self-esteem, withdrawal from peers, misuse of substances, aggressiveness, and apathy.
- Physical Neglects or Deprivation:
Physical neglect is maltreatment or negligence of teenagers by a person responsible for their welfare. Physical neglect or deprivation occurs in teens when parents and caregivers do not meet their teenagers’ physical or basic needs.
Some of these basic needs include Food, Clothing, and Shelter.
Other physical essentials are;
For a female teen,
- Sanitary pads or napkins should be available for her monthly flow. The use of sanitary pads is gender-based.
- Deodorant
- Innerwear
Medical Records or inherited Traits
Mental health illnesses affect teenagers whose parents or blood relatives have had mental health issues. Mental Health illnesses affect teenagers who experienced a fall or accident that impacted the brain in childhood.
Also, medical history of severe diseases can cause mental health illness.
Examples of Medical conditions that can cause mental health illnesses
- Heart disease
- Disability
- Brain injury
- Untreated infant illness.
Pressure to succeed in Academics
Academic stress leads to less well-being in teenagers. It is due to the increase in depression and anxiety.
Teens always think about subsequent academic milestones leading to stress. Stress can arise from gathering information and having a wide range of emotional and learning consequences for teenagers.
See Also Effects of Mental Health on your Child’s Learning
Teenagers frequently subject themselves to self-imposed academic pressure. In the teen stage, they must learn to balance life.
But academic stress can hinder such development.
Hence, giving rise to mental health illnesses.
Inequality or Social Factor
When teenagers feel they are different from their peers, they feel bad.
Discrimination sets in, and then teenagers feel unequal to others. They begin to see themselves as being disadvantaged.
Inequality in many cases is traced to economic standards, leading to an inferiority complex among peers.
Teenagers shy away from peers in school and other groups.
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Hence, having an impact on their mental well-being.
Example of Social Factors or Inequality that can result in mental health illnesses includes;
- living conditions,
- race,
- inadequate support,
- food insecurity,
- disability,
- discrimination and
- minority ethnic groups.