Leilani Meshoulam, Grade 11
UWC Mostar
Teenagers nowadays are suffering greatly. They may seem like the same moody, brooding kids you know, or the usual happy, perky students you constantly interact with, but this generation is facing hard times. According to a publication of the World Health Organization in 2018, about 10 to 20 percent of the adolescent population deals with some sort of untreated mental health related problem. Besides, according to various specialists, these young members of our society are more likely to suffer from various types of psychological disorders (Gil, 2018).
Our main problem as a society is the stigmatization of mental health. When someone has the flu or they break a leg, it is normal and expected to search for medical help, but when someone has some sort of mental disorder and they attend a psychologist, they may be treated as if they were crazy or exaggerating their problems. In itself, realising and accepting you have a mental disorder is a difficult and intricate task, and undermining the importance of our emotional well being only leads to the suppression of our mental burdens and feelings. These are the type of canons that have led to suicide becoming the 3rd cause of death worldwide and it’s increase in frequency by 300% in the past 50 years (Milenio, 2019). At least 2,840,000 teenagers have thought about killing themselves and the numbers just keep rising (UNICEF, n/d).
Many mental disorders stem from strong emotional traumas and events, stressful activities and situations, malnutrition, lack of sleep and hormonal imbalances (Rodríguez, 2017). The combination of school and adolescence allows the perfect environment for these types of disorders and behaviors to root and grow.
With the amount of homework, dead lines, exams and social/peer pressures they have to deal with daily -including their raging hormones, intermittent feelings (anger, sadness, bitterness, affection, happiness), social media and the need to belong- these kids are living in a continuously strenuous situation and constant state of worry. If this continues -without proper treatment and supervision- it may lead to more serious illnesses, as well as have a physical impact in the teenagers health; from headaches, nausea and vomits upto memory loss and alterations, hallucinations and -in the worst cases- death (WHO, 2006).
If we decided to normalize taking care of ourselves -both physically and mentally- as well as talk and open up about our feelings and ideas -without the fear of being judged- we would be taking better care of our children, allowing them to develop themselves safely and fully. Modifying our education systems to help students deal with the school pressure and to gain better understanding of the hormonal processes students may be dealing with, de-stigmatize the taboos surrounding mental health and psychologists and illnesses, like: anorexia, depression, bulimia, anxiety and schizophrenia, would manage to raise healthier individuals and secure a better future for the generations to come.
Our main problem as a society is the stigmatization of mental health. When someone has the flu or they break a leg, it is normal and expected to search for medical help, but when someone has some sort of mental disorder and they attend a psychologist, they may be treated as if they were crazy or exaggerating their problems. In itself, realising and accepting you have a mental disorder is a difficult and intricate task, and undermining the importance of our emotional well being only leads to the suppression of our mental burdens and feelings. These are the type of canons that have led to suicide becoming the 3rd cause of death worldwide and it’s increase in frequency by 300% in the past 50 years (Milenio, 2019). At least 2,840,000 teenagers have thought about killing themselves and the numbers just keep rising (UNICEF, n/d).
Many mental disorders stem from strong emotional traumas and events, stressful activities and situations, malnutrition, lack of sleep and hormonal imbalances (Rodríguez, 2017). The combination of school and adolescence allows the perfect environment for these types of disorders and behaviors to root and grow.
With the amount of homework, dead lines, exams and social/peer pressures they have to deal with daily -including their raging hormones, intermittent feelings (anger, sadness, bitterness, affection, happiness), social media and the need to belong- these kids are living in a continuously strenuous situation and constant state of worry. If this continues -without proper treatment and supervision- it may lead to more serious illnesses, as well as have a physical impact in the teenagers health; from headaches, nausea and vomits upto memory loss and alterations, hallucinations and -in the worst cases- death (WHO, 2006).
If we decided to normalize taking care of ourselves -both physically and mentally- as well as talk and open up about our feelings and ideas -without the fear of being judged- we would be taking better care of our children, allowing them to develop themselves safely and fully. Modifying our education systems to help students deal with the school pressure and to gain better understanding of the hormonal processes students may be dealing with, de-stigmatize the taboos surrounding mental health and psychologists and illnesses, like: anorexia, depression, bulimia, anxiety and schizophrenia, would manage to raise healthier individuals and secure a better future for the generations to come.
www.unitedworldwide.co