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    • Types of Disorder
      • Anti-Social Personality Disorder
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      • Bipolar Disorder Symptoms | Causes | Diagnosis
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  • Our Therapists
  • What We Treat
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  • About Us
  • Resources
    • Addiction Guide
      • Adderall Guide | Side Effects
      • Alcohol Addiction
      • Benzodiazepines
      • Cocaine Withdrawal
      • Fentanyl Guide | Addiction Treatment
      • Heroin Addiction Guide
      • Meth Guide
      • Online Alcoholics Anonymous
      • Oxycodone Guide
      • Tramadol Guide | Side Effects | Addiction Treatment
      • Xanax Guide
      • How a Substance Abuse Counselor Helps
      • Spirituality in Addiction Treatment  
    • Behavioral Health
      • How can counseling help depression?
      • Treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
    • Bipolar Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment
      • Is bipolar disorder genetic and triggered later on?
      • Is cognitive therapy effective for bipolar disorder?
    • Children & Adolescents Guide
      • 10 Warning Signs of Teenage Mental Illness
      • Munchausen Syndrome
      • How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health?
      • Oppositional Defiant Disorder
      • Spotting Types of Depression in Children
      • Teen Suicide
      • Top Tips For Parents
      • Video Game Therapy for ADHD
      • What is a Residential Mental Health Facility for Teenagers Like
      • Why Is Mental Health on the Rise Amongst Teenagers?
    • Is Social Media Ruining Our Self-Esteem? 
    • Mental Health Guide
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Guide to Anxiety Medication
      • Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
      • High Functioning Depression | Signs | Symptoms
      • How Can We Prevent Mental Illness in Youth?
      • How Do You Help Someone with Avoidant Personality?
      • How Does Online Counseling Work for Mental Health?
      • How Can a Mental Health Counselor Help
      • Mental Breakdown
      • Schizoid Personality Disorder
      • Postpartum Depression
      • Types of Mood Disorders
      • The Toll of Grief and How to Cope with It
      • What are The Major Affective Disorders?
      • What Cognitive Psychology Teaches Us About How We Think
      • What Is Clinical Mental Health Counseling
      • What are mental health symptoms you should never ignore?
      • What is Bipolar II Disorder? Symptoms and Treatment
      • What is the Difference Between Manic and Hypomanic?
      • What is schizoaffective disorder?
      • Is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) a mental illness?
      • What is substance induced mood disorder?
      • Is Depression a Permanent Mental Disorder?
      • What is the prognosis for Major Depressive Disorder?
    • Marriage Counseling | Benefits
    • Pandemic Related Issues
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Work Stress Post-Pandemic
      • Shocking Growth of Anxiety During the Pandemic
    • Relationship Issues
      • How to deal with toxic relationship?
      • How does a toxic relationship affect your mental health?
      • What is gaslighting in a relationship?
      • What is the best way to help a partner who has trust issues?
      • What’s the best way to work out relationship problems?
      • 10 ways to improve communication in relationships
    • Spirituality in Addiction Treatment  
    • Therapy
      • Can I See a Psychiatrist Without a Referral?
      • DBT Therapy for Adolescents
      • DCBT- Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
      • Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat OCD
      • Do I Need a Referral to See a Therapist?
      • Family Therapy: Definition, Types, Techniques, and Efficacy
      • How Can Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) Help Mental Disorders?
      • EMDR Therapy for Mental Health Conditions
      • Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist
      • Is Therapy Covered by Health Insurance?
      • Psychodynamic Therapy vs CBT
      • Psychotherapy
      • SMART Recovery
      • What Can Psychologists Treat
      • What is Group Therapy
      • What is Internal Family Systems Therapy
      • What Is the Role of the Counselor in Family Therapy
      • What Is Psychoanalysis
    • Trauma Bonding With Intimate Partner Violence
    • Teen Mental Health
      • Can a Minor Go to Therapy Without Parents Permission?
      • Teen Co-Occurring Disorders
      • What are the signs of depression in adolescents?
      • warning signs of suicide in adolescents
      • Mental Health Benefits of Exercise in Teens
      • How is the pandemic affecting mental health in teenagers?
    • Types of Disorder
      • Anti-Social Personality Disorder
      • Autism Spectrum Disorder
      • Avoidant Personality Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder Symptoms | Causes | Diagnosis
      • Diagnosing and Treating an Adjustment Disorder
      • Histrionic Personality Disorder
      • Intermittent Explosive Disorder
      • Paranoid Personality Disorder
    • Veterans Guide
      • Functional Medicine for Military
      • Service Dogs Help Veterans with PTSD
    • Process Addiction
      • Gambling addiction
      • How do you know if you have an addictive personality?
      • What is Impulse-Control Disorder?
      • Process Addiction

How Can We Prevent Mental Illness in Youth?

This article gives insight into mental health and ways to prevent mental illness in youth and young adults. Read on to find out more.

What Is Mental Health?

Mental health is a condition of well-being in which individuals recognize their potential, cope with everyday stressors, work efficiently, and impact their immediate environment.1 

Mental health is essential to our ability to think, empathize, interact with others, earn a living, and enjoy life collectively and individually.

Is Mental Illness a Disease?

Mental illness can be defined simply as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. That means that mental illness disease, although it cannot be spread by contact, nor is it airborne.2 

How Common Is Mental Illness in Youths?

Most youths have sound health, physically and emotionally. Although many young adults deal with mental illness or meet the criteria for a lifetime mental health issue, most are associated with severe role impairment or stress.3 

What Is Prevention?

Improving mental health begins with prevention. It entails preventing mental health issues from emerging, worsening, or returning. Treatment usually starts before or shortly after the first signs of mental illness appear in young adults.

Is It Possible to Prevent Mental Illness in Youths?

While there are no sure ways to prevent mental illness, young adults with mental illness can adopt methods to manage stress and other risk factors to help keep symptoms under control.

Types of Mental Illness Prevention

Prevent Mental Illness

Mental illness should be destigmatized, and it is important to establish preventative efforts. Mental illness prevention practices will be detailed below.  

Primary Prevention: Stopping Mental Illness Before It Starts

Primary prevention of mental illness includes vaccinations, counseling to change high-risk behaviors, and, in some cases, chemoprevention. Seeing a therapist regularly can also help improve mental health.

Secondary Prevention: Supporting Those at Higher Risk of Experiencing Mental Illness

Causes of mental illness can be detected and treated early in secondary prevention. The emerging signs of mental illness in young adults receive early intervention, minimizing serious consequences.

Tertiary Prevention: Helping Youth Living with Mental Illness to Stay Well

Even though there are several ways of preventing mental illness, none of them is a hundred percent foolproof. Sometimes, when a person gets diagnosed with mental illness, the best prevention is supportive and rehabilitative services to prevent further mental deterioration and maximize the quality of life.

Causes and Symptoms of Mental Illness in Adults

There is not one single cause for mental illness. Several factors can give rise to the risk of developing a mental illness. The factors include biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain, childhood trauma, the use of harmful substances like drugs and alcohol, and feelings of loneliness and isolation.4   

What Causes Mental Illness in Youth?

Mental illness among youths is known to be triggered by violence (particularly sexual violence and bullying), harsh parenting, and severe socioeconomic problems.

Risk Factors for Mental Illness in Youth

Mental illness is a complex condition that is never caused by a single risk factor. The more risk factors young people are exposed to, the higher the potential influence on their mental health. Some of the risk factors that affect mental health include:

Biological Factors

Many experts feel that the biology of the brain and nervous system influences mental illnesses. Genetics, prenatal damage, infections, toxins, brain anomalies, and injuries are biological risk factors.

Environmental Factors

These are the difficulties or pressures that youths face daily. Environmental factors of mental illness in young people are frequently a result of stress.

Social Risks

Social risk factors may include social rejection by peers and lack of social skills.

Experiences

Exposure to trauma, loss, grief, and physical and sexual abuse are all factors that can increase the likelihood of mental illness in youths. 

Other Factors

Other risk factors include low IQ, little to no family involvement, poverty, low grades in school, abusive homes, and lack of support from family or parents.

Common Symptoms of Mental Illness in Youth

Although this will vary for different individuals, some of the common symptoms of mental illness in youths include:

  • Constant fatigue
  • Lack of emotion
  • Loss of interest in almost everything
  • Persistent sadness

How Can We Prevent Mental Illness in Youth?

Adolescents are especially vulnerable when it comes to mental illness. Preventative measures are important, and establishing support networks are a must. Below are some mental illness prevention practices.

10 Ways to Prevent Mental Illness

Some of the ways to prevent mental illness include:

Value Yourself

One of the ways to prevent mental illness is to place value on yourself. This way, you can be unaffected when you face situations like peer rejection.

Take Care of Yourself

If you’re serious about preventing mental illness, you must take good care of yourself. Sleep well, be kind to yourself, and embrace who you are.

Surround Yourself with Good People

There’s nothing like being surrounded by positivity. This is a guaranteed way to prevent mental illness. There’s so much healing and love that can be received when surrounded by good people.

Talk About Your Feelings

Don’t keep your feelings to yourself. If you want to prevent mental illness, you have to learn to communicate your feelings. Confide in people who genuinely care about you. You will notice that healing starts when you let your feelings and emotions out.

Learn How to Deal with Stress

Stress is inevitable. Therefore, you must learn coping mechanisms to deal with it. Develop new hobbies, exercise, read a book, or simply talk to someone. Whatever works for you.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness can assist us in becoming more conscious of our thoughts and emotions to manage them better. This is vital in the prevention of mental illness.

Set Realistic Goals

Setting realistic goals is important in the prevention of mental illness. This way, you’ll be able to tick more boxes on your goals list and stay motivated.

Stay Active

People who stay active have better mental health and a lower risk of developing mental illness. In essence, you are advised to stay physically and mentally active to prevent mental illness.

Avoid Alcohol and Other Drugs

Certain situations might tempt you to try alcohol or drugs to cool off. If you want to stay on the path of preventing mental illness, you must learn to never give in.

Get Help When You Need It

Seek help to prevent and cure mental illness if you cannot handle it. Sometimes, it may be beyond our power to achieve certain goals. In cases like this, never hesitate to get help from the right people.

Treatment For Mental Illness in Youth

Treatment will vary for different people dealing with mental illness, but it always involves psychotherapy. Psychotherapeutic approaches do not necessarily cure mental illness, but they help significantly improve an individual’s mental health.  

Mental Illness Treatment Options

While there are numerous mental illness solutions, these are some of the most effective methods that are being used today:

Medications

Medications are usually very effective treatments for some mental illnesses. These drugs alter the chemicals in the brain, resulting in fewer symptoms.

Psychotherapy

Speaking with a mental health professional can also help prevent and cure mental illness and manage its symptoms. Various approaches are employed in psychotherapy depending on the individual’s needs.

Brain-Stimulation Treatments

Medications do not cure all disorders. In cases like this, doctors might suggest brain stimulation therapies. These therapies alter how the brain’s nerves and other cells process chemicals and respond to stimuli. Examples include electroconvulsive therapy and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

Residential Treatment Programs

Residential treatment is exactly what it sounds like – clients reside at the treatment center where they receive frequent support from specialized doctors trained to prevent and cure mental illness.  

Get Help at Pacific Beach

At Pacific Beach, we offer programs to prevent mental illness. We also provide specialized treatment for teenagers and young adults with mental health conditions.

We assure you of the best quality of care in our comfortable residential treatment centers.

Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about our programs for teenagers and young adults.  

Resources

  1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
  2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
  3. https://youth.gov/youth-topics/prevalence-mental-health-disorders-among-youth
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm

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