According to the World Health Organization, one in seven 10-19 year olds globally experiences at least one mental disorder. That’s 14% of 10-19 year olds that suffer from a wide range of disorders including but not limited to depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Bipolar Disorder. Only one third of these youth receive the necessary treatment (ACOG). There are so many different mental disorders that affect teenagers all over the world, regardless of race, religion, sexuality, gender, income, and many other factors.
Having a mental disorder can increase social exclusion, poor health, stigma, discrimination, difficulties with education, and risk-taking behaviors. During adolescence one begins to develop emotional, physical and social habits that help with physical and mental health in the future. These habits include working out regularly, creating healthy sleep patterns, learning about managing emotions and learning problem solving skills. As an adolescent, there are a lot of things that can contribute to mental disorders such as media influence, unreliable living situations, and bullying. Anxiety disorders and depressive disorders can cause trouble in school and social withdrawal which can worsen isolation and loneliness.
Let’s learn more:
According to the World Health Organization, one in seven 10-19 year olds globally experiences at least one mental disorder. That’s 14% of 10-19 year olds that suffer from a wide range of disorders including but not limited to depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Bipolar Disorder. Only one third of these youth receive the necessary treatment (ACOG). There are so many different mental disorders that affect teenagers all over the world, regardless of race, religion, sexuality, gender, income, and many other factors.
Common Behavioral Disorders
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) occurs among 3.1% of 10-14 year-olds and 2.4% of 15-19 year-olds People with ADHD,normally have trouble paying attention, engage in excessive activity, and tend to act more impulsively without thinking about the consequences.
Oppositional–Defiant Disorder is normally classified by defiant behavior along with at least four of the following symptoms: often losing temper, often arguing with adults, refusing to follow rules often, often annoying others, often blaming others, angry or resentful, spiteful or vindictive.
Conduct Disorder can be diagnosed as a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that normally doesn’t compare to the social norms of a person’s age group.
Common Anxiety Disorders
An estimate by the World Health Organization shows that 3.6% of 10-14 year-olds and 4.6% of 15-19 year-olds experience an anxiety disorder.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is normally characterized by exaggerated worry even if there isn't anything to provoke it.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, (OCD), is characterized by recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). A person may feel that performing repetitive behaviors or “rituals” can help the thoughts go away.
Panic Disorder normally consists of unexpected and sometimes unprompted episodes of really intense fear. These normally happen along with physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, dizziness and shortness of breath.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD), is an anxiety disorder that tends to develop after exposure to a traumatic event in which the person was physically hurt or threatened.
Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by excessive self-consciousness and overwhelming anxiety in everyday social situations. For some people, it is triggered only by certain events and situations. For more severe cases, it can persist through most social activities.
Common Depressive Disorders
According to the World Health Organization, Depression is estimated to occur among 1.1% of adolescents aged 10-14 years, and 2.8% of 15-19-year-olds.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is normally diagnosed through intense or overwhelming symptoms that last longer than two weeks. These symptoms include sadness, hopelessness, feeling restless, changes in appetite, changes in sleep (too much or too little), having low energy, and loss of interest in activities.
Bipolar depression normally causes a person to have alternating periods of low mood and extremely high-energy (manic) periods. During the low mood periods, they often have the same symptoms as Major Depressive Disorder.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) usually starts in late fall and early winter and tends to go away during the spring and summer.
Common Eating Disorders
Eating disorders usually involve worrying about weight, body shape, and food. According to the Mayo Clinic, eating disorders normally develop during adolescence/teenage years. These eating disorders can evolve and become dangerous to physical health as well as mental health. 10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder, one death every 52 minutes. (ANAD). Unfortunately, 9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans, will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.
Anorexia Nervosa can be a life-threatening eating disorder. It is characterized by a low body weight, (not normal for one’s height and age), distorted perception of weight or body shape, and intense fear of gaining weight. People with Anorexia use extreme efforts to control their body shape and weight, using laxatives, purging, and starving themselves. A common misconception is that people with Anorexia need to be underweight to be Anorexic.
Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder that includes episodes of binging (eating a lot of food) and then purging (getting rid of the food through laxatives, throwing up etc.). People with Bulimia feel the need to gain control over their eating.
Binge-Eating Disorder means a person may regularly binge and then not feel in control of their eating. Unlike Bulimia and Anorexia, someone with Binge-Eating Disorder doesn’t do anything to try and compensate for the eating. They tend to eat when they aren’t full and continue eating when they are uncomfortably full.
Why is mental health important?
Depressive disorders and anxiety disorders can often lead to suicidal thoughts in teens. When you look at the main causes of death for teens aged 12-18 in the United States, suicide ranks fourth, in front of cancer. Mental disorders can strongly impact physical and mental health. Teens need to be growing and developing during the adolescent years. Having these disorders can cause many physical and mental issues for the future of a teenager.
How can you help?
Educating yourself is the first way to help with any issue. From there, raising awareness is very important. Many people don’t consider how important it is to aid kids with these mental disorders. You can also help by donating what you can. Every dollar counts.
Disclaimer: These resources don't act in the place of treatment. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, do no hesitate to seek help from a professional.
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