The future and its fight with a mental health crisis.

It is no secret that today’s teenagers are burdened beyond their threshold, be it from unrealistic expectations from family, peer pressure or a general lack of confidence. All these factors and many others combined have formulated a calamity which if not dealt with swiftly and efficiently will have many harmful effects on our development as a nation.

A study conducted on 400 high school going children in late 2022 showed that an astonishing 53% of the students were potentially prey to mental health problems like anxiety and depression . This goes on to show how oblivious we are to the aspect of mental health whether in children, teenagers or adults.

Many factors have come together in forming this crisis for us to overcome. Let’s have a look at some of them.

1. Technological Advancements:

In today’s world, where a teenager without a phone in their hand is a rarity; social media is not out of reach for them. Through such platforms, a person can learn a great many things but at the same time it is difficult to stay away from the negative that is cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is when a person is harassed, abused or made to feel uncomfortable based on their online presence, their looks or actions all through the internet. This deals a great deal of damage to a person’s self-esteem and causes them to fall into the pits of despair which deteriorates their mental health over time. A study conducted in 2019 by Digital Rights Foundation stated that 37% of Pakistani women and 41% of Pakistani men have been the victim of cyberbullying (with most of them in their teenage years). .

2. Family Dynamics:

In Pakistan a dysfunctional family is not a rarity, and the children who grow up in these families are often prey to different kinds of mental health problems which range from inferiority complex, lack of confidence and anxiety. For instance, a person who grew up with an abusive father may develop a tendency of violence through their upbringing which will be the root cause of many different problems.

3. Academic Pressure:

Almost every child residing in Pakistan has been told that their future mainly depends on their education and because of this the children tend to overburden themselves with unrelenting academic expectations imposed by families and sometimes by the students themselves as means of proving their mantle. This causes them to lose sight of their own well-being as they become too consumed by the thought of failure. Many students thus become mentally ill and in extreme cases damage their normal functionality.

Many NGOs in collaboration with the government and different international organizations have set out to help troubled teenagers and spread information about this vital issue. In addition to this our schools and families need to develop an understanding of mental health problems and consider it as a serious issue for their own and their children’s betterment.

If we look at these issues from a narrow point of view, the lives of our children, our future are at stake. Their development, their success, their functionality is all dependent upon their mental health.  From a broader perspective, the advancement of our nation is risked as long as our youth remains tangled in such problems which makes it our duty to spread awareness and do our part to create an ideal environment for them to flourish and grow as individuals as well as a nation.