Teens & Mental Health
People are stressed all the time. Although, a lot of those stressful situations are felt by a teenager, proper management must be done to help the teenager cope up effectively. When stress enters the system and the mind can no longer handle the effects, mental health dysfunction can occur. It does not necessarily mean that the brain will stop working. However, it will not work as normal as it can be. There are a lot of stress factors that causes a person to feel discouraged and misunderstood. It might be a loss of a loved one, a massive surprising change in his life, being bullied or teased all the time, home problems and difficulties and school problems can bring so much stress to an adolescent.
What are the causes of stress? It is a fact that most of the stressors in a child’s life are those which can not be easily recognized by the guardian or the parent.
These include:
First time or new time events like shifting from middle to high school, moving to a room that makes the child uneasy, meeting a new teacher that makes the child pees his pants, or moving to another location are some examples.
Homework that takes away playtime and requires a lot of time to do. Sometimes, teens also need attention and help with their homework but there is no one around to lend a hand.
Unrealistic expectations regarding her performance in school despite the fact that she has already done well. This will invoke fear of not being better.
A loss in the family is one of the major factors that a teenager needs to cope up most. Loss also refers to losing a father or mother through divorce. This can raise an emotional fear that will bind him from the truth that it can happen to him when he has his own family.
Watching stressful news, reading mind-boggling articles like terrorists or natural disasters.
A long-term medical problem like diabetes or something short-term like a fractured bone. A member of the family experiencing an acute or chronic medical problem can affect a child’s functioning.
Financial home problems which oftentimes becomes the reason to stop schooling.
Transitions like theses can affect the entire mechanism of an individual. Even though your child seems to be very small to be stressed, they experience it too.
Dealing with stress can be difficult because it is the byproduct of everyday life and situations. One confusing thing regarding stress is that the symptoms connected to it do not always follow immediately the cause of it. Another trouble about stress is that some may experience it and others do given the same kind of situation. One ideal thing to do when faced with stress is to learn to cope. You have to teach your teens on how to cope with stress. These suggestions can also be useful with adults.
1. Letting your adolescent practice a healthy lifestyle which includes eating a healthy diet, having appropriate sleep and daily exercise.
2. Provide sufficient time to talk to your child about his or her day and how he feels about it. Communication is always the best outlet for negativity.
3. Set goals that are realistic and achievable for your child’s capability.
4. Talk to your child about decisions and options that can make certain changes in your families life.
Achieving mental health for your adolescent is possible only if you do your part as a parent.
