Adolescence Psychology and Mental Health
| Mental health is a term used to describe the level of emotional wellbeing or an absence of mental illness. This includes an individual’s ability to learn and enjoy life, evaluate situations, build relationships, make choices, procure a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. |
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Adolescence is an important period of life when the child experiences profound physiological and psychological changes that can leave an everlasting mark on his / her character.
Adolescence is the age where a person is constantly searching for a unique identity. The psychology of a person during adolescence is such that he gets easily influenced and starts identifying with a role model, be it a sports player or a rock star or a movie performer. Depending on the influence of the idol, the behavior of an adolescent tends to be pro-social or anti-social.
Mental health of adolescents is primarily dependant on their ability to handle stress and the influence of their role models over their life. In spite of having a healthy psychological situation, many teenagers tend to suffer with a minor or major mental problem at some point of time during their lives. These problems include all diagnosable emotional, behavioral and mental disorders. Mental problems in adolescents are also caused due to biological and environmental factors also. Biological factors influencing mental balance of a person include genetic composition, chemical balance and the development of central nervous system. Environmental factors that cause a disturbed state of mind include family violence and abused childhood.
Increased parental supervision, proper guidance, good early education, amicable surroundings and nurturing social environment during childhood are important for protecting the mental health of an adolescent youth.
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