Studies indicate that young people show behavioral disorders that are psychological in origin. We can broadly divide these disorders into two categories, internalized and externalized.
- Internalized disorders: Social withdrawal can be explained by feelings of loneliness, depression, and anxiety.
- Externalized disorders: The opposite of the above situation includes typical behavior disorders such as destructive self-expression, aggression, hyperactivity.
There is a possibility that ‘pathology’ will develop at the point where young people are unable to cope with stress harmoniously. There may be teenagers who use defense mechanisms to avoid facing stressors. Insisting on the use of defense mechanisms results in inappropriate behavior and emotional responses. In other words, failure to ‘respond’ to stress in a coherent way can result in pathology.
Somatic symptoms, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive behaviors or automated, ritualized behaviors may be seen in severe situations where young people cannot cope with stressful situations. most common conditions
- Depression,
- anxiety disorders
- suicidal thoughts and behaviors
- is post-traumatic stress disorder.
Depression:
A significant deterioration in the mood of the individual can be defined as a loss of interest and pleasure. According to the definition of the World Health Organization, if we divide it into 3 sub-headings;
- Mild depression: Requires effort to do normal daily activities.
- Moderate depression: Includes occupational and social impairment. Depression keeps the individual from doing the things that need to be done.
- Severe depression: Includes marked social and occupational impairment. It may include psychotic symptoms such as delusions (hallucinations) and delusions (delusions).
During adolescence, most teens feel depressed from time to time as part of their normal life. As a result, they run the risk of developing ‘troubling levels’ of depression. Loneliness and social withdrawal are often the precursors of teen depression.
Adolescent depression is likely to result from a variety of environments and stimuli.
- one after another loss
- separation-divorce history of parents
- a series of moves involving moving away from trusted friends
- lack of positive reinforcement received
- avoid punishment
Depression can also be caused by negative thoughts. Among these thoughts, the person’s having a negative self-perception, negative interpretation and interpretation of his life and experiences, and having negative thoughts about the future can be counted.
Teens may react differently to depression. There are also gender differences. While more outwardly aggressive behaviors can be observed in boys, girls may become more anxious by internalizing their depression.
Anxiety and anxiety disorders
Everyone is anxious sometimes, sometimes anxiety is functional. But anxiety is dysfunctional because it sometimes brings with it constant vigilance and when the anxiety level is not related to the anxiety-provoking situation. Anxiety is both motivating and inhibitory. In addition, anxiety should be handled differently in adolescents, and ‘irritability’ is usually seen on the surface differently than in children and adults.
The biggest factors that cause anxiety, especially in adolescents, are preparing for a big exam, domestic problems, family attitudes, an important health problem experienced, not being able to overcome general stress sources such as witnessing violence. Seeking more independence is part of this period, but it also brings anxiety. As independence increases, they may also experience anxiety about being responsible for their own actions. The level of anxiety can also vary from person to person. While some teens’ anxiety attacks do not last long, others may experience worsening anxiety.
Suffering from anxiety disorders is not just about being overly anxious. The level of pain experienced in anxiety disorders is generally more common and higher than the anxiety experienced in normal life. We can list the symptoms as follows;
- constant irritability
- hypersensitivity to criticism
- low self-esteem
- decline in school performance
- avoiding new or difficult situations
- school refusal
- sleep problems
- concentration problems
- social withdrawal
- chronic headaches and stomachaches
- often asking for assurance
Anxiety disorders commonly seen in young people are divided into sub-headings as generalized anxiety disorders, social phobia, specific phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Pervasive (generalized) anxiety disorder: Consistent and prolonged anxiety states that affect a teenager’s daily life. It is long-term and persistent anxiety of unknown cause. Symptoms such as tension, irritability, restlessness, inability to sleep or staying asleep, frequent urination, depressed mood, easy anger, and easy fatigue are seen. Teenagers with generalized anxiety disorder often exhibit additional anxiety disorders, such as social or specific phobias.
Social phobia: Severe anxiety caused by exposure to certain social or performance situations. Symptoms may include flushing, sweating, difficulty in breathing, rapid heartbeat, shivering, and dizziness. And this often results in task avoidance behaviors.
Specific phobia: Characterized by a persistent and unrealistic fear of a particular object or environment. It also causes avoidance behaviors.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder: It is the urge to complete involuntary thoughts that are difficult to control (obsessions) and compulsive behaviors (compulsions) to alleviate the anxiety caused by these thoughts.
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors
Whether a teenager chooses or considers suicide as an option depends on their personal coping resources and style. Teenagers who are most suicidal are depressed. Below are the characteristic features that are frequently encountered in young people attempting to commit suicide.
- They tend to have very intense interpersonal relationships with very few people.
- They tend to deal with their distress and feelings with their behavior rather than verbal communication.
- They perceive their environment as uncontrollable. Compared to individuals who feel that they control their environment, they have a higher suicidal tendency.
- They have high hopelessness and belief that things will ‘never go well’. They experience intense intellectual deterioration.
- They tend to overreact to events. They can also be hypersensitive.
The lives of young people who attempt and commit suicide are often very stressful, their coping skills are low, and their school performance is inadequate (Dacey et al., 2006).
- family problems, especially problems that threaten family stability
- severe communication breakdown between parent and teen
- peer problems
- not having any friends or belonging to a group
- inability to live up to the expectations of parents or others.
Post traumatic stress disorder:
Exposure to traumatic situations such as physical violence, sexual abuse, injury, natural disasters or war among adolescents is often higher than expected. It has been observed that a large proportion of these children may develop trauma-related disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depending on various risk factors.
The events mentioned above are defined as traumatic. If we talk about the 2 types of childhood traumas, Type 1 trauma is exposure to a single event (eg traffic accident, natural disasters, loss of a loved one), and type 2 trauma is multiple or chronic events (eg, chronic sexual and physical abuse). , fatal diseases, chronic domestic violence, etc.)
Similar to adults, we can talk about many negative effects of exposure to a traumatic event in adolescents. However, in addition to these, there is another damage caused by trauma. Exposure to trauma negatively affects the developmental process due to both neurodevelopmental and psychosocial aspects. Of course, the observable effects of trauma vary according to the development and age of the individual. The younger the age, the less visible the symptoms. In fact, some effects of trauma may be confused with developmental characteristics (eg, tantrums, irritability, frequent crying). Nevertheless, it is possible to talk about some common symptoms that develop after exposure to trauma for different ages, development and periods. Heralds and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
- extreme irritability,
- sleep problems,
- often disturbing memories of the event,
- fear that the event will happen again,
- be on the alert,
- easy startle,
- difficulty concentrating,
- anger outbursts,
- avoidance of traumatic stimuli
- general emotional numbness.
This disorder occurred after an acute or ongoing trauma. If PTSD is left untreated, it can lead to serious disabilities and impairments that can negatively affect the youth’s social and occupational functioning. In addition, PTSD can be confused with some of the other disorders mentioned at the beginning. Therefore, the reactions should be observed carefully.
When symptoms related to these conditions are observed in young people, they can be overcome through psychotherapy after a psychological evaluation to assess their condition. Cognitive and behavioral therapy, in particular, is a psychotherapy method that is frequently studied with the above-mentioned problems and is based on scientific techniques. According to this approach, it suggests that psychological problems are not caused by dysfunctional thought patterns or a lack of positive behavioral coping skills. In this process, it is aimed to reduce cognitive bias or distortions, to build effective coping and problem-solving skills, to change out-of-control behaviors and to support emotion regulation skills.
Resources:
Geldard, K. and Geldard, D. (2017). Counseling with adolescents and youth, proactive approach. Associate Professor. Mehmet Pişkin (Trans. Ed.) Ankara: Nobel Publishing.(original work was published in 2013)
Öztürk, C. Ş., Tok, ESS, Gökkaya, F., Güzel, H. Ş., Güçlü, İ., Sevi, OM, Haseki, Z., Gedik, Z. (2020). Childhood mental disorders and cognitive behavioral therapiesAnkara: Nobel Publishing.
