What Is the Most Common Mental Illness in Youth?

Physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Anxiety and Depression- Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health disorders in students. Students with anxiety may have low attendance, struggle to finish their work, show declining academic performance, fear new experiences, or worry excessively about assignments, homework and grades.

The desire to achieve high grades in a difficult academic environment can lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety. Students may overwork themselves and neglect their own well-being, especially if they procrastinate on assignments. Procrastination itself can be a coping mechanism for anxiety about grades.

Research indicates that stressful events cause significant psychological such as anxiety, distress, and depression (27). Similarly, severe and long-term academic stress leads to loss of welfare of the victims. Students suffering from academic stress are likely to perform poorly in their schoolwork.

10% of children and young people (aged 5-16 years) have a clinically diagnosable mental problem3, yet 70% of children and adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.

Mental illness can strike anyone at any time in their life. In fact, more than 350 million people across the world – of all ages and from all communities – suffer from depression. But half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Many factors increase the risk of developing or triggering teen depression, including: Having issues that negatively impact self-esteem, such as obesity, peer problems, long-term bullying or academic problems. Having been the victim or witness of violence, such as physical or sexual abuse.

mental age, intelligence test score, expressed as the chronological age for which a given level of performance is average or typical. An individual’s mental age is then divided by his chronological age and multiplied by 100, yielding an intelligence quotient (IQ).

Gratitude is an amazing way to have a positive mindset when life is getting you down. Set some time aside each day to think about the positives in your life, and write them down so you can refer back to them. Having a positive outlook on life, even in your darkest moments, can help your mental health immensely.

To boost your mental health, focus on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables along with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon. Dark green leafy vegetables in particular are brain protective. Nuts, seeds and legumes, such as beans and lentils, are also excellent brain foods.

Often, treatment for mental illness is most successful when psychotherapy is used in combination with medications. For severe mental illnesses, medication relieves the symptoms and psychotherapy helps individuals cope with their illness.

Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives. But anxiety disorders are treatable and a number of effective treatments are available. Treatment helps most people lead normal productive lives.

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