Teen mental health

Mental health disorders often begin developing during the adolescent years. However, these disorders are often not detected because individuals in the adolescent’s life mistake the symptoms of mental illness their child is displaying for a normal part of adolescent development. Any symptoms of mental health concerns displayed by adolescents should be taken seriously, as twenty percent of adolescents struggle with mental health concerns. Specifically, depression and anxiety are common in this age group.

You may be wondering how you can differentiate the normal ups and downs of adolescence from symptoms of a mental health disorder. Symptoms of a mental health disorder usually persist over a long period of time and are more severe than a teenager’s normal changes in mood. For example, feeling sad most days for several months versus being sad about a breakup.

Many factors can contribute to an adolescent developing mental health concerns. Some of the risk factors are noted below:

• Poverty
• Abuse
• Violence
• Bullying
• Discrimination
• Stigma
• Lack of support system.
• Barriers to social services.
• Pressure to succeed.
• Excessive social media use resulting in negative comparisons between themselves their peers.
• A lack of coping skills.

The likelihood of an adolescent experiencing a mental health concern increases if they experience a larger number of the noted risk factors.
Experiencing a mental health concern can impact an adolescent’s life in the following ways:

• Social exclusion
• Discrimination
• Stigma
• Poor outcomes in school.
• Engaging in risky behaviour.
• Emotional distress.

Teaching adolescents the following skills can help prevent the developmental of mental health concerns: coping skills, problems solving skills, emotion regulation skills, and communication skills. In addition, if you do notice that your teenager is experiencing mental health symptoms helping them connect with therapy services can be extremely beneficial.