In recent years teenagers’ have faced many obstacles in their daily lives and some of these obstacles have caused serious mental illnesses and depression, with technology being the main factor for these challenges and amplifying the struggles young people face.
On the 31st of March 2017 Netflix released a series entitled 13 reasons why. This series was about a high school teenager that died through committing suicide. The reasons for her committing suicide are outlined in the tapes that are mailed between the people she felt where involved in her decision to kill herself. This series is a piece of evidence that really shows us that teenagers really go through a lot in their day to day lives. It also shows us the ways in which adults’ can positively change the way teenagers are treated and also the way in which they feel.
What then are the challenges these teenagers face in their day to day lives?
This article will give us an outline on the the things young adults go through and possible ways they can overcome these challenges.
What is it that teenagers go through?
In this crazy world, teenagers face a lot of uphill battles and some of the battles they have faced have lead to depression and eventually lead to them committing suicide.
Some of the challenges these young adults have faced include having a a low self esteem and being ashamed of their body image. This has been triggered mainly by the people they spend most of their time with and in most cases their colleagues. This has led to most of them being afraid of being around people and they often tend to want to be alone in most situations. Being alone has also caused them to overthink on certain things and has resulted in them having social problems and also the teenagers thinking the whole world is against them and this has led to mental illnesses and in most cases death.
The other things teenagers face could be traumatic events and these could include the loss of someone they truly loved or even an act of violence against them such as rape or even bullying. This has led to long lasting emotional effects and has also increased stress and anxiety on the victims.These factors have had secondary effects on teenagers and in most cases research has shown that emotional and physiological damage has caused inappropriate behaviors, such as low commitment to academics, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. This has led to disruption of normal growth and in most cases it has led to increased risks of suicide and homicide.
Pressure from social media has also resulted in teenagers thinking they are not worthy enough and in most cases they have believed the unrealistic lives of people that portray a “perfect life” on social media and this has resulted in them thinking their life is not worthy and that they are the only ones living a miserable life.
What then are the ways in which teenagers can be helped in order to reduce the pressure they put on themselves and get to live a happy life?
Some of the most important things required by a teenager include trust, respect and authority through this they get to have a feeling of being wanted or being loved. Another way could be through gently talking to them and showing compassion through encouraging them and reassuring them that you totally understand what they go through.
Spending time with them and building positive relationships is also a good way to keep them distracted from certain things that could result in depression and through this, happiness and well being is promoted. This could result in them having a strong and active social life hereby reducing chances of depression.
To conclude, teenagers really go through a lot in their day to day lives and most of the things they go through have secondary effects such as depression and could also make them face social problems with other people leading to suicidal thoughts. However, parents and guardians need to understand the pressures these young adults go through and also set some time to spend with them as this is a way that can make the feel loved and also get to give them a sense of belonging.