Mental health in Indian teens

In today’s world, we all are impacted by mental health distress at some point, whether we are rich, poor, young, or old; therefore, we must all become understand the language of mental health.

Every age group has its own set of challenges and it is especially hard to be a teen in today’s world. Therefore, we must work to create a compassionate approach towards the younger generations.

There are many reasons for teens to have negative mental and emotional health; some reasons include anxiety related to career and academics, loneliness because of not having enough friends, difficulty talking to parents, body & self-image issues, sexual harassment trauma, homophobia, bullying, conflicts with parents and friends.

Further, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is increased distress due to uncertainty over exams, online classes, college admissions, future career plans, and conflict with parents at home.

While conversations around mental health in India have increased over the last few years, the problem continues to grow. Most youngsters have relied on reaching out to friends and family for support.

In such cases, being a part of a joint family is very beneficial because there are so many people that youngsters can reach out to. With more family members, the circle of love and support is stronger which will lead to youngsters feeling more loved and cared for.

Nani has many practical tips that help youngsters to not feel depressed, such as:

1. Go to sleep early and wake up early

2. Eat healthy meals at regular times, while avoiding junk food

3. Exercise regularly, minimum 30 mins of walking

4. Avoid spending all your time online and being on social media excessively

While previous generations have grown up with mental distress too, they’ve not had access to the right knowledge and tools to acknowledge and address it. We now have the opportunity to change this!

Let us start by listening and being more sympathetic towards the young.