Mental health used to be highly stigmatized, but now more and more young adults are feeling comfortable seeking help when they feel like they are facing challenges with their mental health. Being able to openly and comfortably discuss mental health concerns is the foundation of effective treatment.
Another key factor is being able to recognize the potential signs of developing mental health issues. In most cases, you can find the signs of mental illness by their effects on young people’s lives. Here are the most prominent effects of mental health on young adults.
How Does Mental Health Affect Young Adults?
Mental health can have a significant effect on the lives of young adults, from their home lives to their educational experiences. Here is how mental health can affect young people today.
Effects On Families
Many times, due to the behavioral effects that mental illness can create, there are significant challenges for family members like parents and siblings that are often recipients of the behavior. Sometimes, the stress of the situation can cause someone to be directly blamed for “causing” disruption or other stress in the home.
Mental health challenges can also result in considerable challenges to the parental relationship, and as a result, those relationships can become incredibly strained. It can even begin to have effects on the marriage of the child’s parents. Eventually, behavior challenges may even lead to additional difficulties with relatives and extended social network members. In severe cases, this can cause significant isolation for the child and the family.
Changes At School
It is extremely common for mental health issues developing in young adults to begin to affect their schooling. They can become increasingly unhappy, and their behavior can lead to disciplinary issues at school that results in measures like suspension or even expulsion being acted on by the school or school district. The same problems that cause challenges at home will cause similar challenges at school.
Primary School
Younger individuals that are developing or have developed mental health issues have a higher risk of being unhappy at school. This leads to higher rates of absenteeism and disciplinary difficulties. Younger children with mental health challenges will also face poor peer relationships and can be aggressive. These problems will also affect attendance, with young students facing mental illness challenges missing more than 20 days of school during the year, and they will be more likely to be suspended than their peers.
High School
Young adults in high school that are facing mental health hurdles will be much more likely to either fail or drop out of classes in comparison to their peers. By high school, they tend to advance to more high-risk behaviors, particularly once they are able to drive. This is also the stage where mental illness has a higher potential to cause self-harm behavior or suicidal ideation. Marginalized youth are at a higher risk of their mental illness taking a greater toll since they are in a marginalized or isolated state.
Increases Risk Of Entering The Justice System
Youth with untreated mental health challenges face a much higher risk of entering the juvenile justice system or other welfare systems. Once in the system, those mental illnesses are more likely to progress and become more severe as well. Those in the system with mental illnesses are less likely, overall, to find permanent homes.
To Obtain Leading Mental Health Care For Young Adults
If a young adult in your life is facing mental health challenges, there is no better time to seek professional help than right now. If you would like to speak to a mental health professional, or simply learn more about how mental health affects young adults, reach out today to Casa Recovery.