La mental health It is becoming more and more important among adolescents and that worries parents. They go to psychologists in order to help them, just like adults do, only with some differences. It's of vital importance know your concerns to be able to analyze what is happening. Far beyond it being something specific What mental illnesses are most common in adolescents?
Adolescence should be a time of happiness and carelessness, but it is a phase with many changes that must be analyzed. Many mental disorders begin in childhood. It is not easy to detect them since adolescents cannot express themselves easily or do not understand what is happening to them, which makes the detention worse. There are many organizations that use many studies to analyze their behavior and help them.
Mental illnesses in adolescents
Hay some events that they may have experienced as children and that are impacting the mental stability of adolescents. Such as sudden changes in your routine, not feeling loved, being a victim of sexual abuse or violence, after your parents divorce, illnesses... Each person is different and some will be able to cope better than others. That's why we must be attentive to the signss that they can indicate since they are children so that it does not advance when they are adolescents.
The most common diseases that children can suffer are:
- Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. When they have had symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity.
- Mood disorders. When they have had a moment of depression or bipolar episodes. They have felt very sad, isolated, listless, fatigued, with mood swings...
- Anxiety disorders. They have had episodes of anxiety as children and this has repercussions in the adolescent stage. Episodes of obsessive-compulsive disorders or social phobia are created.
- Autism spectrum disorder. This disorder begins at an early age and affects their social, cognitive and behavioral development.
What mental illnesses are most common in adolescents?
Adolescents are more vulnerable to mental illness when they have been exposed to some type of disorder in their childhood. Other indicators such as physical, emotional and social changes are part of a stage that is not overcome well and can have consequences.
There are various circumstances that put the mental health of an adolescent at risk. Parents can help by listening and getting them to express themselves too. Many of the factors that affect them can be the changes that surround them, the exploration of their own identity, their discrepancies with the environment, their domestic life, a rather severe education, socioeconomic problems or other circumstances.
Due to these facts, they are more exposed to suffering from mental health disorders and the most common ones are detected:
- Emotional disorders: They are the most recurrent and are expressed with rapid and unexpected changes in mood. This disorder can isolate you and actually make it difficult for you to attend school or attend to your studies.
- Behavioral disorders: It is more recurrent among young adolescents than in older adolescents. This type of disorder causes people to suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder. As a consequence, it can affect the education of adolescents.
- Psychosis: This type of disorder happens more when they are adolescents on the verge of adulthood. Its symptoms manifest with hallucinations or delusions and can seriously affect your daily life, regarding your education and your relationships.
- Eating disorder: In this state, anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa manifests itself. This behavior appears during adolescence or youth, generally when there is a concern about food, weight or appearance. If not treated in time it can lead to death or medical complications.
- Risk behaviors: Many risk behaviors begin in adolescence, with the possibility of experiencing risk. But these types of experiences can respond poorly or unhelpfully when you need to face difficulties or emotional shortcomings. Alcohol, drugs, sex... are very present in these types of events, leading to injuries or poor academic performance.
It is crucial to track and address the needs of adolescents in order to bypass any circumstances that lead to mental health disorders. The WHO works for people's health and especially in that of adolescents. They create specific programs to prevent disorders of any aspect, especially for the prevention of self-harm and not consuming drugs and alcohol.
When the problem is present, programs or modules have also been formulated for mental and behavioral disorders, both for children and adolescents, collecting it in the mhGAP 2.0 intervention guide.