Adolescent Health.• DESPITE THE PRESSURES, AND STRESS OF BEING AN ADOLESCENCE , THE

MAJORITY OF INDIVIDUALS ARE WELL ADJUSTED. HOWEVER SOME TEENAGERS ARE FACED WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.

Sensation Seeking:

Developmentalists believe that teenagers may have a heightened level of desire to experience arousal.

What causes it? Peer acceptance, and establishing autonomy

with respect to authority figures. Permissive parents Adolescents who don’t participate in

extracurricular activities, or teenagers who are consumed with popularity.

Lack of maturity in the prefrontal cortex, and other brain structures.

Media about sex, violence, drugs, and alcohol use.

Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco.

What makes a teenager want to use alcohol or drugs? Those who express the most interest in “sensation-seeking”. Shy adolescents, those who are high in neuroticism. Authoritative parenting.

Drug & Alcohol Use:

Drug use among Canadian youth has been steadily declining since the 1970’s.

The average age of first drug use is 13 to 14. One serious consequence of alcohol use is that 16 to 19 year olds

have the third highest rate if impairment driving charged.

Tobacco: Cigarette smoking by

Canadian youth has declined dramatically since the 70’s, and has hit its lowest point in decades.

Slightly more teenage boys than teenage girls are daily smokers.

Teenagers who smoke are more likely to have used other drugs.

Peer influence plays an important role in teen smoking.

Eating Disorders:

Eating disorders, which were once considered rare in Canada are now among the most significant mental health problems during adolescence.

Eating disorders can be fatal, typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood when the pressures to be thin are strongest.

Although more common in females than boys, gay and lesbian teens are at a higher risk for eating disorders.

Bulimia:

Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight combined with binge eating followed by purging by self-induced vomiting, excessive use of laxatives, or excessive exercising.

Bulimics are obsessed with their weight, feel intense shame about their abnormal behavior, and they often experience significant depression.

The physical consequences:-Tooth Decay -Stomach Irritation -Lowered Body Temp.-Loss of Hair.

Anorexia Nervosa:

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation. Physical Consequences:

-Sleep Disturbance-Cessation of Menstruation -Cardiovascular Problems-Reduced Body Temp.

1% - 2% of female adolescents and young adults in Canada develop anorexia.

4% - 18% of those with anorexia literally starve themselves to death; others die due to cardiovascular dysfunction.

Risk Factors:

Some theorists have proposed biological causes for eating disorders, such as brain dysfunction.

Heredity factors contribute to the development of eating disorders.

The most promising explanation lies in the discrepancy between the young person’s internal image of a desirable body, and their perception of their own body.

However there has been more emphasis on pre-existing psychological health of people who develop eating disorders than on cultural influences.

Depression:

25% of young women and half as many young men aged 16-19 had experienced at least one major depressive episode.

Neuroimaging studies show that teenage depression is associated with some kind of pituitary gland dysfunction.

Children growing up with depressed parents are much more likely to develop depression.

Any combination of stress increases the likely hood of depression or other kinds of emotional distress in the adolescence.

What Causes Depression? Neuroimaging studies show that

teenage depression is associated with some kind of pituitary gland dysfunction.

Children growing up with depressed parents are much more likely to develop depression.

Any combination of stress increases the likely hood of depression or other kinds of emotional distress in the adolescence.

Suicide: More women than men experience

depression in their late teens, however more male teens commit suicide.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Canadian young people aged 15-19.

Suicide attempts are estimated to be three times more common among girls than boys, based on hospitalization for nonfatal self harm.

Suicide rates among Canadian’s Aboriginal youth are among the highest in the world.

Suicide Continued:

Most medical treatment has been focused on the treatment of depression associated with suicidal behavior.

Although we know suicide is related to depression, however other factors do play a role:

-Triggering Stressful Event: disciplinary crisis with rejection, or some form of rejection or humiliation.

-Altered State of Mind: sense of hopelessness, reduced inhibitions from alcohol consumption or rage.

-Opportunity: a loaded gun in the house or a bottle of sleeping bills in the parents room creates an opportunity for the teen to carry out suicidal plans.

Prevention: Eating Disorders:-General Awareness will help you avoid judgmental or mistaken attitudes about food, weight, body shape, and eating disorders.-Discourage the idea that a particular diet, weight, or body size will automatically lead to happiness and fulfillment. Depression/Suicide: -Telling someone if you’re worried about another individual.-Reduce alcohol and drug use.-Treatment.

References:

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/suicide-prevention/suicide-prevention-helping-someone-who-is-suicidal.htm

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-can-you-do-help-prevent-eating-disorders

Lifespan Development 5th Canadian Edition http://

www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cphorsphc-respcacsp/2011/cphorsphc-respcacsp-06-eng.php