Mental Health In Youth: How Is The New World?
- Lifestyle
Alessia Braun- 0
- 8 minutes read
Mental health issues affect nearly one in every six youth. These issues include depression, conduct disorder, anxiety, and many more. In this background, today we will have a small discussion on mental health in youth and how the world is changing with respect to this.
This world is home to nearly 1.8 billion youth of age group between 10-24 years which contribute to nearly one-fourth of the complete world population. Nine out of ten youths reside in less developed nations. India constitutes the globe’s largest number of youth with 356 million despite having a lesser population when compared to China.
Among all the population groups, the fastest-growing group is that of the youths, especially in the poorer countries. This is one of the most crucial phases of life, being a formative time span with great impacts on the future. So there is a special significance of mental health in youths since most of the MSUDs (Mental and Substance Use Disorders) have onset in adolescence and in the youth and there are many that tend to function on a relapsing or chronic course. A world that is altering at a fast pace adds more significance to this topic and that has a great impact on mental health.
Changing World And Mental Health In Youth
To be precise, mental health is important for optimal operation along with productivity for any human being. In the last few decades, the world has seen enough changes, especially with the discovery of faster transportation modes, ease of shift across nations, and the radical development in Information Technology (IT). This has got major challenges that have been accompanied by ill impacts like decreased social interaction, intimacy, physical activities, and a more inactive lifestyle. In person interaction in real life is being highly replaced by a mechanical sense of intimacy via the social networking channels.
The present day youth spends a good amount of time on the internet and is highly exposed to a data explosion that includes cybercrimes, violent video games, and cyberbullying. The web is also a source of misinformation where the information is not always verified and the unverified information is prone to harming the young mind. Rising violence among the youth is another crucial problem that needs to be attended to as the youths are at risk of being a victim as well as preparators of violence.
Another mode of bullying is cyberbullying which is now becoming highly common in the past few years with the increased use and access to the services that are internet-based. Cyberbullying and behavioral addiction are the two important harmful effects of mental health in youths. The disorder caused by the internet is now being identified as a new disorder that requires therapy. Children living in streets and shelter groups are another group who are more vulnerable because of the absence of a family and a stable shelter. This group is highly exposed to harmful activities like drugs, sexual and physical abuse, violence, and criminal behavior. Mental health in youth statistics is rising with each passing day and is of great concern for the mental health experts as well as the society. These are the causes of mental illness in youth.
Extent Of The Mental Health Issue
As per teenage mental health statistics 2021, nearly 20-25% of the adults suffer from Mental and Substance Use Disorders globally. According to a report of the National Mental Health Survey of India concluded that the present prevalence of mental health disorders between the age group of 18-29 years at 7.39% and lifetime effect at 9.54%. The frequency of mental disorders between the age group of 13-17 years is predicted to be nearly 7.3%.
The youth also suffer a high percentage of self harm, with the leading cause of death being suicide. Nearly half of all mental disorders are known to initiate at 14 years of age. Since Mental and Substance Use Disorders tend to give a chronic relapsing course, taking care of mental health in youth becomes one of the prime jobs. There have been many teenage mental health articles that have spoken about these issues.
Globally, Mental and Substance Use Disorders are identified as the leading reason for all the non-fatal burden of years lived with disability and diseases. Within varied age groups, young adults and adolescents probably suffer the most. They contribute to the highest percentage of disability adjusted life years within a varied group of age. The burden that is attached with common mental issues increases abruptly in childhood and then peaks in adolescence and in the starting of the middle age. The burden that is related to less common but chronic problems like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, even though higher in early adulthood, also impacts the childhood as well as the adolescent. These are the teenage mental health facts.
The Bottom Line
It is ironic that the spending on health is lowest in countries that have the highest youth population. It is crucial to state here that as a result of a well structured program, AIDs and HIV and equally condemning illness such as the mental health issues, the new HIV infection in India has reduced by 46% and deaths that were related to AIDs have been reduced by 22% since 2010. Mental health in youth as we have discussed above is a crucial topic that does not only require discussion but also requires action. But the drawback is still in many parts of the world that it is stigmatized like other diseases such as HIV and AIDs. People with mental health disorders are thought of as lunatics. Mental health awareness is very important. This breaking of the stigma is the primary job.
