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Hidden Struggle: Mental Health, Risk Factors, and the Power of Care

"18% of high school students have considered attempting suicide. 9% have actively tried at least once. Suicide is also the third-leading cause of death for ages 12 to 24" — schoolsthatlead.org

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community”. This means that mental wellness is not just the absence of mental disorders.

Why mental health matters
Mental health is just as important as physical health because it affects the brain, which plays a vital role in controlling the body’s functions and influencing how we think, feel, and behave.

Unlike physical illness, mental illness often shows no outward signs. This makes diagnosis, treatment, support and attention difficult to be given. This is further worsened if the person in question is an introvert as they don't show too much change in their social interaction and character, etcetera.

Understanding the causes
Mental illness ensues among students for many reasons. This includes biological, psychological, and social factors. Causes of mental illness differ for every individual. Some common causes include academic pressure, family-related issues, psychological factors, biological, and health factors.

A lot of students find the 11-week system challenging as it is not enough to cover the content of some of their courses. The resultant burden of this is borne by students which leads to an overloaded schedule and lack of balance.

Furthermore, parental conflict, divorce, neglect, financial stress at home are major causes of trauma and depression among students which may worsen and snowball into more serious mental issues when not properly managed and taken care of.

Sometimes, the biological formation of an individual could be a trigger for mental illness. Issues such as low self-esteem or negative perception of one's body image, especially influenced by peer pressure, social media, and fashion standards, may result from their view of their physiological make-up. On another aspect, there exists genetic predisposition to conditions like depression, anxiety, though on a lower percentage.

Basically, anyone can be depressed. However, research shows that certain mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, are more commonly reported among women, often due to biological and hormonal factors.

Recognizing the risk factors
Risk factors are conditions or behaviors that increase the likelihood of developing a mental health disorder. Recognizing it in various cases of health situations assists in preventing or reducing it. Risk factors for mental illness can be described as modifiable and non-modifiable.

Modifiable risk factors are factors which can change by sticking to a healthy lifestyle, adherence to recommended medical advice and avoiding unhealthy habits. They include poor nutrition, chronic stress, traumatic events, unhealthy sleep patterns, and so on.

Non-modifiable factors are factors which cannot be changed. These factors are usually beyond the control of the person and the professional. They include age, gender, ethnicity, family history, etc.

How mental disorders manifest
This is how mental illness manifests in an individual. It is said that about 1 in every 8 people around the world present with a sort of mental disorder or another.

1. Eating disorder: This is characterized by unhealthy, harmful behavior to food and body weight. Common disorders include bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa, characterized by restrictions of food intake and eating of large amounts of food in short periods respectively. In other words, mental unusualness could reflect in a person by their eating too much or eating way too little for their normal portion.

2. Impulse control and addiction disorder: People with mental health issues may show signs by their lack of control over their desires. They impulsively do things that may seem to bring them pleasure which sometimes involve acts that could be detrimental to themselves or to others. It includes pyromania (compulsive fire setting), kleptomania (compulsive stealing), and compulsive gambling. Basically, they seek pleasure in things that are momentary since they have lost pleasure in the basic mainstream events of life.

3. Personality disorder: People with this condition behave in a manner that is not appealing to the community. They are basically considered anti-social as their behavior seems to nag at others and they distance themselves socially in all ways possible. This personality disorder is one strong manifestation of loneliness, depression, relationship trauma, trust trauma, low self esteem, low self worth, and negative thoughts about one's identity and personality.

4. Mood disorder: This is characterized by persistence feeling or lowliness or period of euphoria. It includes bipolar disorder or cyclothymic disorder. This is basically when a person shows spontaneous situations of extreme emotional highs and lows. Symptoms of this excessive hyper and hypo activeness are more severe in the case of bipolar disorder than cyclothymic. Majorly, they both show their signs of mental illness by the person being excessively happy and active at one time, sometimes shorter, and in the next few moments, they experience a fall in emotion and appear so sad and uninterested.

5. Schizophrenia disorders: The term “schizophrenia” often refers to a spectrum of disorders characterized by features of psychosis and other severe symptoms. These are highly complex conditions where a patient becomes physically deluded, sees and feels illusions, and hallucinates.

Treatment and management
Treatment occurs as a personalised process for each individual and it differs for types and stages of the disorder. Combination of treatments may be used to achieve a better result. Some of the mainstream contemporary forms of treating mental health issues are:

1. Medications: Although psychiatric medications don't cure mental illness, they often significantly improve symptoms by biologically mitigating it through the nervous system. Such medications include anti depressant, mood stabilisers, etc.

2. Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, involves discussing your condition with a professional, either a psychiatric or psychologist. The professional then uses trained methods to speak convincingly to the patient about their challenge.

3. Self care: It involves adapting to certain lifestyles to help them manage their wellbeing such as eating a balanced diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep.

The power of care
Caring for ourselves and others should never be seen as a luxury, it is a right and a responsibility we owe one another. Never underestimate the power of small acts of kindness. A five-minute phone call or a quick knock on a friend’s door can make a world of difference and remind someone that they are not alone. These acts help to ease the burden of mental health and also prevent its occurrence. In a fast-paced world filled with comparison and pressure, choosing empathy and community could be the difference that saves a life.