At the end of 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the Healthy People 2020 yearlong goals and objectives. This is comprised of 42 topic areas that the government believes should be priority in enhancing the health of all within society3. Among the health objectives are Social Determinants of Health, Mental Health and Mental Disorders, and Health-Related Quality of Life and Well-being3. Although there has been much information and research on certain mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, little research has been done on distress. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, psychological distress is defined as “A range of symptoms and experiences of a …show more content…
Also, those within the age 18 to 25 range were half as likely to access mental health services than any other age range4.
The problem that we are trying to address is distress has adverse long-term effects on the developmental well being of high school teens. The onset of mental disorders in adulthood because of distress experienced by the age of 14 is 1 out of every 2 adults, and the onset for mental disorders in adulthood that occur because of distress experienced before the age of 24 is 3 out of every 4 adults13. As a consequence of high levels of distress, many other risky health behaviors have developed among the youth population such as alcohol and substance abuse and other co-morbid health issues such as anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder (ADH), and attention hyper active disorder (ADHD)14. Negative events have a stronger effect on those with low social support from peers within the youth population, aged 13 to 19, and even stronger negative effect on those with low social support from families16. If these problems are not addressed early on in a person’s life, they shall grow up with unnecessary psychological and mental disorders that could negatively impact their development and waste their potential contributions to their families and society.
We propose a program, Addressing Distress in High School Students, aimed to improve high school student’s relationship building skill set as a means to cope with distress.
It is not uncommon to hear stories about a teenager experiencing mood swings and rebelling against those in authority. Nor is it uncommon to experience general sadness or anxiety in high school and college. However, it is often difficult to tell the difference between normal teenage angst and clinical depression. It is not commonly known that there has recently been a staggering rise of depression in adolescents. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in twelve adolescents in the United States suffer from depression, which is 8.3 % of the teenage population. In order to combat the problem of adolescent depression, it is essential that parents take an active role in their adolescent’s life by both acknowledging and
What is causing significant amounts of stress on teens, and what are they using to cope? What is the world doing to help them? What can we do to help? Teens are struggling to cope with the complex issues today. But is stress no more than an easy excuse, because teens are handed tasks that they simply don 't want to do? High levels of stress can also be early signs of possible emotional or mental health issues. What can we as a community do to change this large amount of stress put on teens, because they feel like the amount of work given to them is too much, and adults expect too much for them? Probably too many questions here. Keep your intros shorter.
Adolescence is a critical time of development. During this period there are significant changes in brain development, emotions, cognition, behavior, and personal relationships. It is during this time that most major mental health disorders appear, many of which carry over into adulthood. Behavior patterns such as substance abuse also often develop during this time and may continue throughout adulthood. Many adolescents struggling with mental health issues begin to exhibit symptoms such as acting out at home or in school, showing a decreased interest in activities that they previously enjoyed, or bringing home poor grades. Others ultimately are charged with offenses ranging from status
Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an
Depression is a major predictor of a myriad of negative outcomes such as poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, decreased pro-social relationships, and higher risks of substance abuse (Healy, 2016). Additionally, these negative outcomes experienced by depressed teens may be even more apparent if the depression remains untreated. Findings mentioned earlier by Jones (2013) have also confirmed that this sensitive period in an individual’s life is particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms that could lead to dire outcomes. These negative outcomes found by Jones (2013) concur with many of the same outcomes Healy mentioned. Moreover, research by Jaycox, Stein, and Paddock (2009) further delves into the impact of teen depression on these negative outcomes. Their study broadens knowledge on negative outcomes in teen depression by examining them over a long period of time. The data is compared to teens that are not depressed, but experience the same negative consequences. Results from the research concluded that the negative outcomes such as school achievement and poor relationships were significantly more severe in depressed teens. After stating the major consequences depressed adolescents experienced, their study further found that treating adolescents may not only have clinical symptom benefits, but also greatly
Anxiety Disorder is a sudden feeling of qualms, uneasiness, nervousness, and anxiousness. Symptoms vary for each person. In the adolescent years anxiety shines the most. With school work, and social interaction. In our society, many people diagnose themselves with anxiety, because they are nervous, they believe they have an anxiety disorder. In the adolescent years anxiety is there, but usually mild, in today’s society, because studies show that anxiety has increased over the years. The denotation of anxiety is a sudden feeling of sickness, apprehension, paranoia. Eager and anxious are often used incorrectly, using the opposing one as the other. Anxiety means anticipation of an impending event. However, eager implies that the person looks
Today review evidence-based treatment fashion in Children and adolescents. We will also review new Suicide Prevention guidelines
Raising a child isn't an easy thing to do. Raising a child while the parents are still in their teens is even harder. Dealing with the day to day chores that involves a baby and trying to work and get an education is very stressful on any teen.
Pre-adolescence is a crucial stage in a child’s life because it is during this stage that kids can learn the coping mechanism that can prevent complications later on in life (Britton et al., 2014). Some children and adolescents may not have the opportunity to seek proper mental health care during their childhood. This may be due to parents overworking or simply not being able to afford quality mental health care services (Bucci et al., 2016). However, schools can serve children and adolescents as a
Adolescence is a stage of maturation between childhood and adulthood that denotes the period from the beginning of puberty to maturity. However, many conflicting opinions are raised about weather such a stage of childhood is influenced by stress, depression, and suicide rate. Some people support the optimistic view that says that adolescence is not a period of storm and stress. Others, including me, support an opposite pessimistic view which characterizes adolescence as a period of stress and inner turmoil. Unfortunately, it has been recently proved that depression is a growing problem in today 's society and a major contributing factor for a multitude of adolescent problems. This is because , as research indicates, adolescent depression
Depression is the most widespread mental illness in today’s society. Studies have found that, 1 out of 8 teens are affected with this disease. It also predominantly affects young ladies than it does males. (www.kidshealth.org). Teens are at a position in their lives when they must face significant transition and peer pressures. They are trying to identify with themselves and trying to figure out where there puzzle piece fits in society, all of which can show the way to behavioral and emotional changes. This is also a stage when families suffer from poor communication: teenagers often tend to keep their feelings and concerns to themselves away from their parents and other authority figures. Therefore, identifying depression in teenagers
An individual that has strives to live with anxiety or an anxiety disorder faces many struggles daily because of the feelings the conditions stimulate. There are an infinite amount of symptoms, causes, and consequences, but an equal amount of treatment options and ways to handle anxiety. Anxiety disorders can be viewed as general or extremely specific, but all in all each one affects the life of a person living with one or knowing someone who struggles with it. In regards to teenagers specifically, between three and five percent children and adolescents in the United States have some sort of anxiety disorder (Foa and Andrews 2). With the many challenges teenagers already face because of pressure based on school, athletics, social
Teen stress is a big issue in today's society. Recent studies have shown that teens may develop more stress then adults. Few adults can remember the truth about adolescence. "Their minds "censor" their memories, and have them believe that being a teenager was was one big party, free of cares and responsibilities"( ). There aren't that many adults around who realize what adolescence was really like. The anguish, the fear, the anxiety, the stress. People don't remember those problems because they want to forget them. Stress is a significant problem for teens. There are many factors that lead into teen stress, such as school, drugs, peer pressure and
Today’s teenagers are faced with the ever changing world around them and the biological changes of their bodies. Many teens are also faced with depression. Approximately half of teenagers with untreated depression may attempt suicide, which remains the third leading cause of death in this age group. (Bostic). This depression affects their school, family lives, and robs them of their self image. Depression affects many teens and often goes by unnoticed and untreated.
Teen suicide is a big problem all around the world, and we try to prevent it by offering help, and medications for whatever these teens are going through. What you may or may not know is that although we do offer help, these teens who are suicidal face negative criticism which sometimes pushes them to do something drastic.