Cause of Major Problems in Adolescence
The term adolescent refers to people of age between 10 to 19 years. Adolescence period is coupled with significant changes in emotional, physical, and social traits of a person and all these changes affect the psychological well-being of an individual. The risk of increasing psychological disorders increases when the adolescent is exposed to risk factors such as violence, abuse, and poverty (WHO, 2019). Adolescence is a critical stage in human development because it influences adulthood. Emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, excessive anger, irritability, and frustration are common during adolescence.
Emotional disorders during adolescence lead to other disorders such as eating and substance use disorders. In eating disorders, a person can suffer from anorexia nervosa r bulimia nervosa where weight control becomes an obsession. A person suffering from eating disorders controls their diet excessively because they overvalue weight control, and they often indulge in impulsive eating and purging. Studies show that eating disorders precede substance abuse (Mann et al., 2014). Eating disorders are closely related to depression anxiety, and the adolescent gets affected by slight body changes. Delinquency is also caused by depression and anxiety. Unhealthy social relations worsen depression and anxiety.
Eating disorders affect females than males, and they are also a leading cause of mortality among mental disorders. A patient can receive nutritional rehabilitation, medical and psychological interventions to prevent adverse results when the disorders are left untreated. A nutritionist helps the underweight patient to normalize eating patterns until a healthy weight is attained. In medical intervention, a patient is given antidepressants to address mental disorders such as anxiety and depression (Basu & Chakraborty, 2010). A patient can also treat eating and substance use disorder by getting psycho-education and therapy sessions.
Psychosocial intervention is one of the best methods to treat eating disorders because the adolescent receives important education about personal health. It also addresses other causal factors such as depression and anxiety that are linked to the disorders (Karlsson, 2012). Support from family and other people who are suffering from the same disorders offers a good platform for the recovery process. The treatment intervention has a lasting solution to disorders associated with adolescence.
References
Basu, D., & Chakraborty, K. (2010). Management of anorexia and bulimia nervosa: An evidence-based review. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 52(2), 174. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.64596
Karlsson, G. (2012). Anorexia Nervosa – Treatment Expectations, Outcome, and Satisfaction. Retrieved 4 June 2020, from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:559498/FULLTEXT02.pdf
Mann, A., Accurso, E., Stiles-Shields, C., Capra, L., Labuschagne, Z., Karnik, N., & Le Grange, D. (2014). Factors Associated with Substance Use in Adolescents with Eating Disorders. Journal of Adolescent Health, 55(2), 182-187. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.01.015
WHO. (2019). Adolescent mental health. Retrieved 4 June 2020, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health