MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF YOUTH

Problem Statement:

Educational Institutes and parents are not paying attention to the mental health issues of students. It is affecting individuals on a social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive level. There must be some awareness and counseling for them.

Effects on Society:

Suicide by a senior police officer in Rawalpindi, self-immolation by an unemployed man in Karachi, suicide by a man in Rawalpindi only two days after his marriage, and suicide by a girl in Badin as a result of alleged social media blackmailing show that the vulnerability cuts through gender, social group and age cohorts in Pakistan.

According to one estimate, around 13,000 people committed suicide in Pakistan in 2012. It is believed that mental illness will be among the leading causes of death by 2030. Suicide is significantly associated with certain mental disorders. According to one estimate, nearly 90 percent of the people who have died by suicide suffered from mental disorders. Due to mental disturbance youth is becoming a drug addict to avoid depression, anxiety, and other emotional disorders.

Importance:

Mental health plays a major role in the personality development process of a human being. Our actions are directly linked to our mental condition. People with strong mental health are motivators for the ones who are facing mental health issues like depression, anxiety, emotional disorders, eating disorders, anger issues, etc. It has got a direct impact on our daily life routine, the efficiency of work, efforts to achieve certain goals, commitments, hygienic conditions, food habits, etc. All these factors linked to a person’s mental health have a great impact on the personality of that particular person. For overcoming all the barriers to strong mental health, a positive approach towards them often brings good results which lead to stability, peace, control, happiness, efficiency, better performance, creativity, behavioral improvement, etc. Hence, strong mental health portrays your better version and weak mental health portrays your worst version in handling different situations that a person faces in his/her daily life routine.

Research:

There are many factors contributing to mental health problems and every age group is being affected by it. I want to work on depression and anxiety which are spreading among youth especially. My main focus is on college and university students.

I have talked to two students and a doctor about the problem and I am sharing it here.

Doctor:

She was with the view that today’s youth don’t know how to handle stress and cope with depression. They are less likely than adults to refer themselves for mental health problems. Due to this negligence, it has been increasing day by day.

Student 1:

So it started when I lost one of my loved ones, and it became difficult to manage me. I never came across any hurdle in my life, no one has ever guided me on how to deal with sorrow, how to deal with pain, how to accept my failure. And find no courage to discuss. I was able to share but had no courage to listen to the words which I actually don’t want to. It turns my personality into a fake one, don’t look sad when you are actually because our homes hold extra boundaries. Later, I decided to get over it but I was not able to concentrate on my daily work, my focus became weak. I was always an active-minded girl but my mind started struggling in remembering things, I started making stories in my mind and started thinking about them for a longer period of time, I skip the words of others talking with me. I became extra sensitive, can easily cry over very small arguments. I found my mind occupied always. I felt tired. I don’t know what to do, how to deal with this. I can’t explain my fears my thoughts. But it has made me very sensitive, I feel under-confident. I faced stomach disorders, skin problems, and my body used to get cold suddenly. All I understand is, this is a game of mind. And we are unaware to deal and discuss these things.

Student 2:

Depression is becoming the greatest cause of mental illness in students. I also suffered from this disease in my university life, being the only girl and the pampered child of my parents, I couldn’t understand and thus overcome the issue of bullying. It affected my studies a lot and at the end of the day, I regretted that why didn’t I took action in the starting. For its treatment, I talked to the most reliable person and shared all that I had in my mind and tried to solve the issue and with the help of Allah, I resolved my issue.

Conclusion:

After all this research and by consulting with people affected I concluded that it’s the biggest challenge to deal with depression and anxiety especially for youth. They feel humiliated to visit therapists and share their problems. So firstly there must be awareness in institutes so that teachers and students come to know about its importance and what possible steps could be taken to improve one’s condition. We must facilitate them learn how it can be made part of academic institutes to pay heed to students mental health also. Seminars and awareness campaigns should be arranged.