Youth mental health crisis and treatment issues

Abstract

According to Youth Mental Health First Aid services, National Alliance for Mental Illness, also Archives of General Psychiatry  10,2% of youth are diagnosed with a substance use disorder in their lifetime, 1 in 5 teens and young adults lives with a mental health condition, and nearly 50% of all future mental disorders begin by age 14, and 75% by the mid of 20s years.

According to literature review, one of the reasons of mental health issues of the youth is unemployment. As the researchers mentioned youth unemployment is related to mental health problems, independent of the overall national rate of unemployment, which is important as the youth unemployment rates are currently at stable high level (Thern E.,2017).

The authors and researchers mentioned that school staff, parents, teachers, youth group leaders, and adult who work with youth should know mental health supporting program, and first aid issues.  Youth Mental Health First Aid services are primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. The topic of the course cover anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders symptoms, how to tackle these problems.