Teenage is crucial

Teenage is an overwhelming period for both teenagers as well as their parents.

The hormonal imbalances in the body, changing family dynamics, new and tougher academic challenges, societal norms to deal with and an emotional roller coaster with friends, crushes and relationships.

Teenagers all over the world are suffering from various mental health difficulties.

All these challenges can be too much to handle sometimes.

Around 11 per cent of youngsters have experienced depressive episodes by the teenage years.

Depression in teens is more than a phase.

It hinders daily life, leads to suicidal ideations and behaviour and may have a lifelong impact on the person.

 

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Effects 

Some common effects of depression in teens are-

• Loss of pleasure or interest in activities that earlier excited the teen.
• Irritability, worry, agitation often seen among teenagers in the form of throwing tantrums or lashing out at others.
• Negative feelings about the world.
• Feeling worthless and questioning their existence.
• Withdrawal from friends and family.
• Suicidal thoughts.
• Difficulty in concentrating, remembering or any cognitive task
• Low self-esteem.
• Frequent absenteeism in school

 

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Causes

There is no exact cause known for depression, but a variety of factors may play a role –

Brain chemistry– Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that carry signals from nerve cells to the target cell.

These chemicals are sometimes imbalanced and turn abnormal, there occurs a change in the nerve receptors and the nerve symptoms leading to depression.

 

Hormones– Changes in the hormonal balance may also be one of the causes for triggering depression among teens.

 

Inherited traits- Depression is more likely to affect teenagers who have a family history of depression, e.g. parents or grandparents.

 

Early childhood trauma- Teenagers might have experienced traumatic events like physical, emotional or sexual abuse in their childhood.

These experiences might make them more susceptible to depression.

 

Death or loss- Loss of a loved one– a parent, best friend or a pet may bring sadness and grief to the teen and increase the risk of depression.

 

Learned patterns of negative thinking- Teenagers who have been exposed to pessimistic thinking, might have learned to feel helpless on difficult situations rather than feeling capable of overcoming challenges are also likely to develop depression.

 

Serious illnesses- Depression may also occur when teenagers suffer through a severe medical condition or other mental health conditions.

 

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Privacy and Parents

Adolescence or teenage is a period where the desire for privacy increases.

As they grow older, they are trying to learn more about themselves like what do they want to be when they grow up, what are their interests and where do they fit in.

It is also a crucial period to figure out their gender orientations, sexual preferences and other likes and dislikes.

Amongst all of this going on, they need time to think and figure out some things on their own.

 

Parenting is an ever-changing dynamic that is yet to be perfected; parents have to learn to do things along the way.

There is a subtle line on when to interfere and when to let go, how much to interfere and what to do at any given point.

Parents have to understand that they cannot protect their child from everything and they have to let their children learn things along the way as well.

While it may seem essential for them to tutor their kids on every step of the way to help keep them from getting in trouble, parents fail to understand that they’re not giving their child the space to learn- essentially not letting them hone their cognitive abilities.

This is life, could later affect the child as they tend to become extremely dependable and fail to be able to make even trivial decisions.

Snooping around their children’s phones, journals, looking into text messages can essentially break the trust the child has on the parent and when the child is in need of guidance, they tend not to go to them in such cases, wagering a huge gap between them.

One way the parent can help build trust is by understanding that they can only teach the child so much and building up a bond that makes the child feel comfortable enough to go to the parent when they are in trouble or in need of assistance.

This period can definitely be a challenge for teenage parents.

They have to make a lot of adjustments too as there are so many things about their child that they don’t know as they used to earlier.

The teenagers might become secretive as they grow, but if they need some privacy, it doesn’t mean they are hiding something.

As teenagers become more protective of their information, it means they are developing to be more independent and autonomous.

 

Simple ways to respect your teen’s privacy-

• Knocking the door before entering their room.
• Asking before looking in or cleaning their school bags.
• Avoid listening to their phone calls.
• Refrain from going through their rooms or drawers.
• Avoid reading their personal diaries.
• Avoid scooping out information about them out of their friends.
• Resist calling them all the time to know the whereabouts.

 

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Staying at Home and the Effect on Teenagers

The pandemic has really been a tough time for everyone.

The age group that has been the least talked about are teenagers.

The challenges faced by them have definitely been neglected.

They have to study all day through online lectures, which can be really stressful and detrimental to their health.

They haven’t been able to meet their friends with whom they could share all personal and private information.

Some of them also feel the absence of purpose and schedule in their lives.

All of these experiences can lead to feelings of helplessness, anxiety, hopelessness and other negative feelings.

To counter these feelings, a few things that can make staying at homeless challenging are:

• Setting up a schedule filled with some exercise, preferred activities like playing a board game, painting, dancing or calling friends to be socially connected.
• Using screen time in a constructive manner.
• Setting boundaries for oneself in terms of using social media, watching shows and also for being inactive and lazy for too long.
• Trying new things by learning through various online mediums. This can provide purpose and excitement to the teen.
• Taking one day at a time and only planning for that one day, rather than being overwhelmed thinking about how long before life goes back to ‘normal’.

 

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Statistics

Here are some numbers showing why we need to be concerned about the mental health of teenagers-

• 13% of children lying between ages 8-15 experience a mental health condition.
• 50% of children lying between ages 8-15 experiencing a mental health condition do not receive treatment.
• 17% of high school students seriously consider committing suicide.
• ½ of all lifetime cases of mental health illnesses begin by the age of 14.
• 20% of adolescents between ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition.
• 11% of youth suffer from a mood disorder.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 10-24.

 

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Conclusion

Teenagers face a lot of difficulties in terms of physical, biological, social and emotional changes. This is not the age group that needs advice, all they need is support and being there. The battle has to be fought alone but a little cheering can make them go a long way.

“I am not telling you it’s going to be easy; I am telling you it’s going to be worth it.”             -Arthur Williams

References

https://www.nami.org/mhstats

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/teen-depression/symptoms-causes/syc-20350985

https://www.healthline.com/health/adolescent-depression#causes